PhD week 64: Canterbury Museum

Canterbury Museum. Image courtesy of acroamatic via Flickr. License: CC: BY-SA-NC.

One of the things that I love about doing what I do is going to insect collections I haven't been to before, and discovering what cool things they have in them. Last week I visited the Canterbury Museum to look through their weevil collection to see what specimens of Irenimus they had. In the process I was able to identify a number of previously unidentified specimens, as well as correcting a couple of errors that had been made previously. There's not many jobs that can make a priceless national treasure even more valuable. and I'm lucky enough to have one that does!

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Websites:
Vatican Radio—Culture of Encounter is the Foundation of Peace

Watched:
Star Trek (Original Series) Season One

PhD week 63: Geographic data extraction

A natural part of the taxonomic process is the collection of distribution data. These can be useful for figuring out species limits, and for determining geographical areas where some interesting biology may be found. They can also be used with other geographic data to get an idea of the spatial patterns of species diversity, or for inferring the environmental preferences of a species—the subject of a field called environmental niche modelling or species distribution modelling.

Some of the different data that can be used include climatic information such as that available from WorldClim, geological data (e.g. GNS' QMAP), or composite datasets such as the Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) dataset.

A nice little summary as to how one can do this sort of stuff in R is given on the The Molecular Ecologist blog.

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Websites:
Zegrahm Expeditions review of journey to Melanesia

Watched:
Star Trek (Original Series) Season One

Twelve weeks of Star Trek:
Star Trek Into Darkness

PhD week 62: Detective work

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson discuss the intricacies of type specimens.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, and is in the public domain.

The foundation of biological taxonomy is formed by the designation of type specimens. These are specimens that were examined by the person who described the species in question, and which bear the name they proposed. They are important in that, in the event of confusion regarding the status of the name, the species represented by the type specimen gets the name. For more information on the categories and establishment of type specimens, read the wikipedia page linked to above, or the ICZN.

On this last trip to NZAC, I had the excitement of discovering some previously undetected type specimens, and the pain of realising that some types that should've been deposited there were either not present, or not adequately labelled. This required a degree of detective work involving checking original descriptions and specimen label data. The process is not yet completed, but progress it being made.

While I was in Auckland (and truth be told, the reason for the timing of this visit) I was able to catch Norma Jean playing at the Kings Arms Tavern on Friday. Compared with the Sydney concert, this was a more intimate show, featuring support bands that I know and love, and attended by people whom I hadn't seen for some time. Antagonist A.D. played with an intensity that belied their arrival from the USA that morning, and one wouldn't have guessed that it was Cold by Winter's first show in a good many years. The quality of the support was such that Norma Jean did not stand out as prominently as in Sydney. They played an excellent set, and it was great seeing them in NZ. Discussions after the show suggested that they may try and get here again in the near future, which will be amazing. If they don't make it, however, Friday was a worthy show by which to remember Norma Jean's visit to God's own country.

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Read:
   Pine-Coffin RS (translator). 1961. The confessions of Saint Augustine Middlesex: Penguin

Websites:
Fauna of Chile blog: Aegorhinus superciliosus

Watched:
Star Trek (Original Series) Season One

Twelve weeks of Star Trek:
Star Trek (2009)

PhD week 61: Sydney

Norma Jean take the stage at the Hi Fi, Sydney, 3 May 2013.

I've been a fan of metalcore band Norma Jean for eight or so years; so when I learned that they were touring Australia, I wanted to make sure that I caught them while they were in this part of the world. In this way, I found myself in Sydney on Friday night enjoying one of the best concerts I have ever experienced. From the pre-set sound check, one knew that something special was about to happen; and from the moment the curtains opened, they played with an intensity that few other bands I've seen have been able to match. They played a good variety of songs from across their releases, including one from their upcoming album that is due to be released in a few months. Personal highlights were their opening song "Disconnecktie", "Bastardizer", crowd favourite "Memphis Will be Laid to Waste", and "Vipers, Snakes and Actors". I was impressed by the bands attitude, and have come away with a greater respect for the band and enjoyment for their music; something I hardly thought possible.

Check out the following links to see the setlist of the show, as well as photos from the night by Gwendolyn Lee and Rebecca Pacey.

In addition to the concert, I was also able to spend some time in the Australian Museum looking at broad-nosed weevils from Australia, walked through Royal National Park and Wolli Creek Regional Park, and enjoyed a milonga at Tango Pasión. I managed to pack a decent amount into a short visit. I liked Sydney, and would like to visit it again in the not-so-distant future.

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Read:
   Pine-Coffin RS (translator). 1961. The confessions of Saint Augustine Middlesex: Penguin

Websites:
Geoscience Australia: Topographic mapping

Watched:
Star Trek (Original Series) Season One
Norma Jean Australian Tour Trailer

Twelve weeks of Star Trek:
Star Trek X: Nemesis