List of posts holding my thoughts on academia, my research and ecology.
- Phylogenetics and the Tree of Life – who cares?
In the 20th century, a beautiful, large woodpecker was roaming the forests of Southern US and Cuba. In those times, the Ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was the largest woodpecker species in the US; yet like… Read more: Phylogenetics and the Tree of Life – who cares? - Go hug a tree! Forests and human health
As an ecologist, one of the main perks of my job is being able to go outside and immerse myself in nature on a regular basis. Because I study plants, I would regularly find myself… Read more: Go hug a tree! Forests and human health - From observations to mechanisms
A couple of weeks ago, I was doomscrolling surfing the r/Science community on Reddit while taking a break when I came across this absolute legend of a paper: Will any crap we put into graphene increase… Read more: From observations to mechanisms - What if ecology started from the tropics?
It was 1859 when Charles Darwin first published his seminal work “On the origins of species”, introducing the ideas modern biology takes for granted today – the theory of evolution and speciation. In his work,… Read more: What if ecology started from the tropics? - Is it just me, or are there too many reviews?
When I first embarked on my journey towards a doctorate, I was way out of my depth to read most mainstream scientific articles. A lot of your run-of-the-mill papers would often employ scientific jargon unique… Read more: Is it just me, or are there too many reviews? - Impactful applied research: Academics or entrepreneurs?
In a previous post on the ecology track, I have elaborated on the bane of almost all researchers’ existence – securing research money. Part of the post covered the need to “sell” one’s science in… Read more: Impactful applied research: Academics or entrepreneurs? - Ecology – A slow science
In my last post, I talked about the insanities of the research funding process, ranging from the astronomical time sink in preparing grant proposals, to the arbitrary nature of the selection process that favors safe… Read more: Ecology – A slow science - The woes of research funding
If you ask any academic to name the least enjoyable aspects of academic life, grant writing will almost certainly rank near the top of the list. Just over a week ago, the European Commission released… Read more: The woes of research funding - Traditional ecological knowledge
First post of 2026! For generations, farmers across different cultures have found various ways to live off the land, either through unique farming practices or ways to sustainably manage their environments. For example, many indigenous… Read more: Traditional ecological knowledge - Reflections of 2025 – Ecology track
Happy holidays! As the year draws to a close, here’s hoping all readers a well-deserved break this season. As I write the final post for this track for this year, here I am reflecting on… Read more: Reflections of 2025 – Ecology track - Citing Scripture in academia?
Last week, the online media blew up with the Samantha Fulnecky essay controversy. In a psychology class at the University of Oklahoma, a junior (Samantha Fulnecky) received a grade of zero for her essay in… Read more: Citing Scripture in academia? - The criminal list of academia – Retraction Watch
My first ever post on this blog covered the extent of academic fraud. Ten months later, the problem only seemed to be getting worse with the advent of generative AI and papers flooding the academic… Read more: The criminal list of academia – Retraction Watch - Overhyping hyphae – The Wood Wide Web
It’s not everyday when ecology hits the main headlines. Just four years ago, Dr. Suzanne Simard published a book called Finding the Mother Tree, covering the prevalence of common mycorrhizal networks in natural forest communities… Read more: Overhyping hyphae – The Wood Wide Web - Rethinking biodiversity beyond species
What is biodiversity? In today’s environmental crisis, biodiversity is a buzzword that everyone has a rough sense of what it entails, but not many can come up with a holistic definition for it. Ask any… Read more: Rethinking biodiversity beyond species - Apocalyptic myths of 2050
In the spirit of the other posts that I have been writing regarding Creation Care, environmental science and eschatology (the theology of the end times) recently, it only seems fitting to dedicate my next post… Read more: Apocalyptic myths of 2050 - Creation Care – backed by science
In my most recent post on the theology track, in commemoration of the season of Creation 2025, I gave a very broad overview of the theological perspective behind Creation Care among Christians. Since this blog… Read more: Creation Care – backed by science - The obsession with novelty
Reviewer 2: This work is nothing new and adds nothing to our knowledge. It doesn’t warrant publishing. If you are familiar with the text above, 1) you’re not alone; and 2) I humbly apologize if… Read more: The obsession with novelty - AI, and the collapse of academia (Part II)
In my last post, I elaborated on my thoughts on relying on AI in parts of the peer review process. In this post, I will focus on the latter half of AI misuse in education… Read more: AI, and the collapse of academia (Part II) - AI, and the collapse of academia (Part I)
Ok, maybe my title was a bit of a clickbait. Nonetheless, do read on. Just over a month or so ago, the news outlet The Guardian released two articles talking about how academics are inserting… Read more: AI, and the collapse of academia (Part I) - Where’s the ecology in the classroom?
It has been a few months since I completed my doctorate. Yet, when I look back, it has been nearly a decade since I took my first ecology course. Back then as a freshman, I… Read more: Where’s the ecology in the classroom? - Is most ecology research useless?
Over a decade ago, Elon Musk said in his interview with Khan Academy that “most PhD papers are pretty useless” (see 9:30 in this video). This caught on in the social media since and many… Read more: Is most ecology research useless? - Shifting baselines in conservation
In a previous post, I expressed my viewpoints on prioritizing some species over others in conservation, and the dilemma conservationists face when it comes to allocating resources for species conservation. Amidst the doom-and-gloom in conservation,… Read more: Shifting baselines in conservation - Who gets to live or die? A hard question in conservation
This isn’t intended to be a generic post about how our world’s biodiversity is in decline, or that species are important to maintain ecosystem functioning. This post contains something more somber. The world’s biodiversity is… Read more: Who gets to live or die? A hard question in conservation - PhD: Three stars; do not recommend
I’m done with my PhD! Nearly 5 years ago, I stepped out of my degree program, bachelors in hand and a mask on my face (it was deep into Covid). Now, the years have flown… Read more: PhD: Three stars; do not recommend - Predicting the future with ecology
“Climate change is a hoax! Scientists’ climate models are wrong!” If you have heard this, I guess you are no stranger to the many claims climate sceptics use to undermine the urgency of ongoing climate… Read more: Predicting the future with ecology - There is no “right answer” in science
What do you imagine the average ecologist does in their day-to-day research? At least within my social circle, ecology is taxonomy and identifying species. Ecology is jotting down in your field notebook, taking observations of… Read more: There is no “right answer” in science - Post-results hypothesis
In my first blog post, I talked about some of the shady stuff going behind the academic system and how that can upheave trust in the scientific community. This post, I will be addressing a… Read more: Post-results hypothesis - A subtle bias in tropical ecology?
Right now, I am at the final stages of my Ph.D. preparing for my defence. At the same time, I’ve been trying to get my thesis work published in international, reputable journals. One curious problem… Read more: A subtle bias in tropical ecology? - Academic fraud
As I am writing this post, the Trump administration has just been inaugurated (again, sigh…) and the new government immediately launched an all-out attack on universities and research funding. This coincides with a dangerous new… Read more: Academic fraud
