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If you Wannabe their PhD Student: Re-framing Cold Emails
In her article for FemSTEM, Melissa C. Márquez makes the excellent point that cold emails are an essential part of networking. If you’re not familiar with the term, emails are ‘cold’ when you are contacting someone whom you haven’t met or communicated with previously. They can be scary to send, but they’re how I ended up doing research in Iceland and how I got my PhD project. Cold emails are particularly nerve-wracking when you’re contacting someone you greatly respect. However, in this post, I want to break down the difference between respecting someone and fearing them. I think viewing your worth as equal to those further along in their careers can help combat “imposter syndrome” and improve your self-confidence. I’ll also give you my tried and tested cold email format. …
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Highland Statistics or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Stats
In this post, I’m going to discuss the statistics course I recently attended and my personal history with statistics and mathematics, as I think this is an area where many junior scientists, especially women, feel insecure. The course was with Highland Statistics: Introduction to mixed modelling and GLMM (frequentist & Bayesian approaches). It just so happened to be in Trondheim Norway. A week of statistics and gorgeous scenery, what could be better? …
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So You've Started a PhD in a Computational Science: Useful Tools & Resources
To celebrate starting the second year of my PhD (holy #%@!), I’ve created list of resources and tools I’ve been using for Python, version control, managing literature, this website, etc. I hope it’s useful for anyone starting a computational science project and if you’re embarking on a PhD, best of luck; it’s a cake walk. …
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Tools for Learning Python: End of the Summer of Data Science 2017 and Back to School
Ahh back to school. The time when I used to fawn over Lisa Frank school supplies. Now, I watch as undergrads, so hopeful, with so few gray hairs, once again clomp through my building. …
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Aldulting 101: I Made Buisness Cards!
Please let me interrupt your regularly-scheduled science programming to talk for a moment about business cards. …
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You Can Observe a Lot by Just Watching: Agent-Based Modelling and Yogi Berra
Ahh modelling, providing the computational power to solve real-world problems. Agent-based modelling in particular, is useful for untangling the ephemeral, contradictory, unexplainable phenomena in the physical and social world. The only limit is your imagination. And programming skill, but that’s another matter. …
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Summer of Data Science June Update: A Greek Tragedy
In my last blog post, I discussed my goals for the Summer of Data Science (#SoDS17). I had grand plans to start investigating machine learning because I’m hoping to build a model from scratch using video of fish behavior this winter. Unfortunately, instead of emerging as a deep learning prodigy, I now know your pain, Icarus. …
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Summer of Data Science
Today I want to tell you about what I’m going to do this summer because if I tell you, you’ll hold me accountable to reaching my goals. Right? Thanks. …
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Watch, talk, and be merry: Learning to make the most of conferences
I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago and I was reminded, again, how important they are for professional development….not to mention fun. …
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Welcome to my new website!
Hello there! …
Sophia N. Wassermann, PhD
Marine ecologist interested in quantitative approaches to issues at the intersection of fisheries and climate change. Postdoc in the Punt Lab, School of Aquatic & Fisheries Science, University of Washington, in collaboration with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center & Northwest Fisheries Science Center. PhD in Earth & Ocean Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway.