Blog of Bermanism

Wow, this was quite a few weeks that I just went through. I basically had to shut everything out and bury my head into my laptop as I wrote the first draft of my major research paper for my postdoctoral fellowship. It was really a nice experience to get it written, and I had forgotten how difficult it is to write the discussion portion of papers! I had to read around 12 papers for every paragraph that I wrote. It was a lot, but I managed to get it all pounded out in two weeks. My original goal was to have the paper submitted by this Thursday, but it is clear that we need to have a few more quick experiments on board in order to have a really tight paper. So, I’ll be doing those experiments next week and then editing like a fiend to get it out the door.

For those that don’t know, this will be my first paper of my professional life. I’ve never managed to publish a paper before (for a lot of reasons that I won’t go into here), even though I should probably have two previous publications already. As you probably also know, in science, your currency is your publications. It is how you let the world know about your findings, it is how you add to the bulk knowledge of the human race, and it is how you prove that you are an effective scientist that is worthy of good positions and grant money. It is impossible to further your career without publications, and in a time when funding is next to nil, people hiring into positions are very selective about who they take. A person with some high-quality publications to their name will beat out someone who doesn’t have them because it is less of an investment risk for the university, institute or company to take someone who has proven that they can do good science. It is a tricky game, one that is fraught with politics and red-tape, but, for those that play it well, promising futures are on the horizon. So, I feel like I’m finally making my way by getting through this manuscript. I feel much more fulfilled with science than I did two weeks ago, and, I think that in writing this paper, I’ve proven to myself that I can actually do this (something I wasn’t entirely convinced of until now). Now, I just have to actually get it published, and that will be difficult and will take a while.

Anyhow, I had wanted to get the paper submitted before Thursday because I’m going to be heading to Winter Park, Colorado for my annual ski trip, and I’m totally psyched about it! I haven’t been to Winter Park in a few years, because we went to Tahoe last year, so I’m very happy to be returning to my childhood stomping grounds. I’m going with a great group of guys this year (no women this time, they’re all pregnant, with infant, or otherwise unavailable). Everyone coming along has a good deal of experience on skis and I’ve planned out a pretty intense three days of skiing that will effectively take us on a full tour of Winter Park’s immense terrain, both on and off piste. It will be epic, for sure, and all of the guys are up for my challenge. We’re staying in a ski-in/ski-out condo in two studio units. The studios are small, but it was really inexpensive, so it will be nice to ski-out, shred some Winter Park goodness, ski-in, and go to the hot tubs. There’s nothing better than soaking in an outdoor hot tub after a day of hard skiing. So, I’m looking forward to good friends, good skiing, and good beer for three days. I say this every year, but I’m going to try to write a blog entry chronicalling our ski adventures each day. It probably won’t work out, but I’m going to try. So, then next time I write, I’ll be on my way to Denver. Until then, peace and carrots.

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