Coffee break's over, back on your heads!

Okay everybody, it's been one heck of a seven-month hiatus... and I don't regret it a bit. Due to recent events this blog will probably take a little bit of a different direction now. Here's what's been going on: First, now I'm in grad school getting an advanced ag degree. Second, we're having a baby in a week or two. Both very exciting, and both good environmental blog fodder. Let's give some quick updates and see where we go from here.

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Grad school: Specifically, the DPM program at University of Florida. The DPM degree is set up along the same lines as an MD or DVM (veterinarian) program with lots of classes and internships so you can look at something, figure out what its problem is, and fix it- just like a doctor or vet with people and animals. MS and PhD degrees are great for learning how to do research, which is important- but not how to fix things. So let's say you did your PhD in plant pathology and worked with viral plant diseases for your research. Then you get a job doing crop consulting or ag extension, which is a pretty typical career path for advanced ag degrees. Your first year on the job would go something like this.

Farmer: Yup, so now we've got this leaf spot on the corn, which is a new one... What is it, what should we do about it?
You: Hmm. Well, it's not a virus.
Farmer: Alright.

*silence*

Farmer: Is that it?
You: 'Fraid so.
Farmer: I am so glad I/the taxpayers spent money for this advice.

Not very good, is it? In order to avoid this awkward situation, I will be spending the next four years learning about more than one thing, which is unheard of in higher academia. (I like to give my husband a hard time because he can slam out a term paper for his PhD in a few days, whereas mine take a couple weeks because I have to actually learn something new first. I'm going to call it a sign that the education is working.) Every so often when some interesting environmental information comes down the pipeline I'll go ahead and put it up here.

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And second, there's the baby. Don't have much to say about this one as it hasn't happened yet. We're going with cloth diapers and EC, so we'll let you guys know how it works out- I figure that's fair game for a green blog.