Its been a month now since I officially moved to Evanston, and I'm really enjoying my new life here. My little studio feels like home (complete with my now airplane-savvy cat), and is nice to come back to after a long day at school. I've now completed two weeks of classes, and have officially decided that they are really great. I'm taking "Field and Laboratory Methods in Plant Biology and Conservation" (which is the equivalent of two classes), and "US Environmental Law and Policy", which is an elective. My field/lab class is really hands-on, and I've been learning so many awesome things. It is team-taught by all the PBC faculty (Plant Biology and Conservation), and its wonderful to have each prof teach us the methods they use in their particular areas of expertise. Every time I go to class I am so inspired about possible research projects I could choose; I know I'm going to have such a hard time picking one. So far we've studied in the woods, the prairie, and in the botanic garden proper, and have done such diverse things as measure flower parts, set up "bee bowls" (where we drown bees and count their limp, soapy bodies), conduct floral density surveys, and use $10,000 GPS devices. The GPS exercises were especially sexy... the possible applications for their use in the field are incredible! I've decided that no matter what, I'm going to do some sort of research that needs one of those devices (even if I have to stretch things a bit!). The program just received a federal grant to create a GPS lab, so all our devices are brand-new and state-of-the-art. We even have a $15,000 device that is precise to 1mm, in real time! Man, I think I'm in love...
As for my Environmental Law class, I think its pretty swell too. The entire grade for the class is based on the final exam, which is a little intimidating, but I'm not too worried. The prof really seems like he'll do everything possible to enable us to pass with flying colors (in fact, we're having a practice final on Thursday). An environmental lawyer, the professor is incredibly eloquent and insightful. Throughout the 3-hour class, he never once refers to his notes or uses a powerpoint or anything, and yet manages to keep my attention the entire time. I've also been really impressed at how well he hides his bias; I really have no idea what political agendas he supports. He simply presents the material, describes how that particular law functions and what it means, and withholds his opinions as to whether it is beneficial or not. I am so thankful that I can just learn the facts without having to sift through political commentary.
My program has 10 incoming grad. students, all of whom are Americans, and 9 of whom are women. I'm not really sure what the male:female ratio is all about... its not like there is anything essentially feminine about plant biology. Coming from Biola with a 1:3 guy/girl ratio, I was hoping for a little better odds at Northwestern... oh well ;) As always, I am the youngest in my group (I think I've been the youngest in every school endeavor since kindergarten). There are also three other red-heads. That last fact really has nothing to do with anything, but is kinda fun. Everyone seems pretty nice, and I'm having fun finally getting to meet people. The two weeks I lived here without school were a little bit slow in the "meeting-new-people" department.
I guess that's all for now! I'll try to keep this blog up a little better...
