Category Archives: Uncategorized

Automating digitizing your data

Last month I asked for advice on automating a huge bunch of data transcription. At that point, my knowledge of OCR was that OCR exists. Now I’ve learned enough to know that OCR won’t solve my data transcription woes.1 The forms my data are entered on differ from year to year and sometimes even site to site. The forms are a mixture of handwritten and printed information and printed parts are often modified by hand. I didn’t find anything I could use out of the box or that looked easy for me to modify to digitize my data. If I’d had 10 or 100 times the data I do, it may have been worth it to work harder to develop an automated solution. In the meantime, my supervisor hired an undergraduate to help me.

If you’re in a similar boat, but your supervisor is less awesome, you may want to consider Mechanical Turk or inviting your hipster friends to super underground data transcription parties.

 

1 Thanks @davidjayharris for pointing me in the right direction!

More theory papers should have tables like this

From Coulson & Tuljapurkar 2008

From Coulson & Tuljapurkar 2008

1. Coulson, T. & Tuljapurkar, S. The dynamics of a quantitative trait in an age-structured population living in a variable environment. The American Naturalist 172, 599–612 (2008).

Calling all students interested in the history of ecology (UPDATE)

The Historical Records Committee of the Ecological Society of America is organizing a poster session on student investigations into ecology’s history. The session description from Dan Song:

Current Student Perspectives On The History Of Ecology

Everyone in ecology and its related fields has, at one point, been a student of ecology. Although it is true that all ecologists are in a state of perpetual learning, students still in school aspiring to be professional researchers hold a special place in the field. Often, students start their research careers by looking into the past (months, decades, centuries) to inspire their own research. While in school student research is still developing and may change; students have not yet lived in the history they are examining. Students are always thinking about how they arrived at their current circumstances as well as projecting their future prospects. Like the skyways connecting buildings in downtown Minneapolis, students serve as the bridges between ecology’s history and its future. This collection of posters presents different historical aspects of ecology that has inspired their own research. We present student perspectives on several key aspects of the field, including ways in which women’s contributions to the field have evolved, through Ruth Patrick’s career, and students’ reflections on the present impact of key figures in ecology, such as E.C. Pielou. In addition to examining pioneering figures the posters also highlight how societal norms, such as gender roles, impacted ecology over time.

 

If you’re interested in presenting in the session or have any suggestions or ideas, please get in touch with Dan Song at danielssong[at]gmail.

JAN 13 UPDATE: Though ESA typically allows only one presentation per person, presentations in this session aren’t counted [see exemptions] – so you can give a poster in this session and a talk or poster on your other research.

JAN 13 UPDATE: The deadline is tomorrow, Monday, January 14, so get in touch with Dan soon.

JAN 16 UPDATE: While the deadline has passed, you should still contact Dan if you’re a student interested in the history of ecology. If some people are not able to accept their invitations, you might be considered! Also, remember that the general abstract submission deadline for ESA is February 21!