Author: greg

Atmospheric chemistry researcher and university teacher. Data analysis/chemometrics specialist (PCA, PCR, Cluster analysis, SOM)

Done with exam corrections

I am done with marking exams and I am glad that it is over 😉 Thankfully, I was well prepared with a completed sample exam and points to be awarded for each single line of a correct answer. This helped me enormously (also in the past) to ensure a consistent quality of the marking. I have put the marks online (I use Moodle as a course software, which I have grown rather fond of, although I mostly use it as a file repository) and announced additional office hours. There was a steady stream of students today, though it was not too busy. Most went through their exams on there own and had a question here and there and a few tried to negotiate a better mark. I try to be as transparent as possible with my marking scheme, so everybody who had a look was usually satisfied with the way I marked the exams. Should I get the position that I have applied for, there will be even more marking to do, because I will teach more courses, but I am getting more and more efficient at it.

Some impressions from EGU

I was my first EGU meeting here in Vienna (finally – after 3 years abroad I make it to a conference in my home town 😉 and my impressions were mixed.

Organisation was excellent – no problems with registration. A weekly pass for public transport was part of the registration and the venue at the Austria Centre Vienna was pleasant. No “big” book of abstracts was published this year, so I had to put a programme together in advance (or at one of the many terminals onsite), which was a good thing, because I was very well prepared once the conference started, knowing each and every session I would attend. Browsing through the programme on a computer screen is still a pain, though, if you just want to know, what is going on. 

I presented a poster and was pleasantly surprised that I had a couple of minutes during the oral session to talk about my work. I had even more time than originally allocated, because most poster presenters did not show up and so I had a little mini-presentation to get people interested. This paid off and I had a very good attendance at the poster right after the oral sessions with good discussions.

Quality of the contributions was so-so, especially at the oral sessions (bad posters are more easily by-passed). I sat through some incredibly bad presentations, not formally, but also content-wise, where speakers presented very unreliable data; discussions that I had afterwards did not elucidate the situation, but rather convince me that the methods used were indeed unreliable. While I acknowledge that the quality of a presentation is difficult to judge from an abstract, I was still surprised at the number of these contributions.

Overall though, I had a very positive impression of the meeting. People attending were mostly Europeans, so after 3 AGU meetings it was good to get an overview of European research in my own field of work. I have met two research groups, who do similar work than I do – VOC determination in snow and it was good to exchange ideas and approaches. VOC speciation in snow is still not pursued by a lot of people – lots of work for me to do. I always find conferences very stimulating, so I also found the time to work a little on my current manuscript and incorporate some of the thoughts that came up during the meeting.

A visit to the Atmospheric Chemistry Research Group at the Vienna University of Technology

Today’s visit was extremely interesting – especially the microbiology aspect of it. It is not my central field of work, but I have done quite a bit of work concerning isolation and identification of bacteria and fungi from snow. Their (potential) ability to metabolise the VOC that I am trying to determine presents an interesting pathway for their fate in the environment. Snow with its huge surface and favourable properties (especially during the time of snow melt) could provide an suitable matrix for the breakdown of VOC by microbial species.

The group in Vienna  works mostly on the role of fungi in the snow pack in conjunction with the determination of organic matter, mostly as a sum parameter – not the speciation work that I do. It was most interesting to hear about the methodolgy that they use and how they interpret their results.

10 days in Vienna

The first 10 days in Vienna are over and I have already given two talks – both went very well. Apart from that I will be visiting the Vienna University of Technology once more next Tuesday for some more exchanges concerning atmospheric chemistry research and I am very much looking forward to it.

I have also finished my poster for EGU starting in a week – all there is left is printing the poster. I have found a cheap place to print, so no major obstacles a head. No wait … I still need to sit down and put a detailed schedule together. With 3 AGU meetings under my belt it should not be too difficult. Loads of interesting stuff though – I have to be careful, what I choose and what will be left out.

I am also in touch with quite a few students concerning the lecture. The final is coming up (shortly after my return) and I currently answer questions by email before some additional office hours a few days before the exam. So far I can keep up and I answer questions within 24 hours.

Last Post Jan 19 – Way Back …

… and it probably shows, how busy I have been in the past week & months. So I will fill up the space with new impressions and backdate things a little as well – I will reflect a bit on the things I’ve done.

Anyway, I just arrived in Austria (yesterday) and I already gave a seminar at the Vienna University of Technology – very pleasant, very enjoyable. I was asked to give the talk in English – better for me anyway, because I rarely speak about my work in German. More presentations to come and I will also participate in the European Geosciences Union at the Austria Center in Vienna in mid-April.

On the side I support students by email and answer their questions, trying to help them with their preparations for the final exam. Things are not too busy yet, so I can concentrate on my presentations.

Interview at Concordia University

The day before my departure to Europe I had an interview at Concordia University at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for a teaching position. I am very much interested in doing some more teaching, because after 3 years of research I would like to build and improve my teaching portfolio. Moreover, I have enjoyed teaching at a university level very much in the past (at McGill in spring 2006 and this spring at Concordia). The interview went well and was conducted in a very pleasant manner. After lunch with faculty members, I gave a teaching lecture to faculty, PhD and Master students, which was very well received. It was followed by an interview with the search committee and individual faculty members. I had the possibility to ask questions and bring in my own views and ideas. I have also received feedback on the teaching lecture; very instructive. I was quite tired afterwards – after a 6 hour visit and questions (and a lot of preparation time before – for the course, the interview and my trip). I am definitely ready to go to Europe, although not much of a holiday waits there – my first talk is on Friday.

Grant Money!

I have just received a networking grant for two trips (to Vienna, Austria and St. John’s, Newfoundland) in order to visit two atmospheric chemistry research groups. 

Both groups – at Memorial University and the Vienna University of Technology – do fascinating research in the area of bioaerosols, development of monitoring methods and atmosphere – ocean interactions, fields very close or adjacent to my own, which deals with the exchange of volatile organic compounds between snow and the atmosphere. I expect valuable input from both visits and I have also offered to present some of my own work.

For $ 2500.- I will also be able to attend conferences in my field of research. The grant is provided by the Global Environmental Change Centre (<a href=”http://www.mcgill.ca/gec3”>GEC3</a>) at McGill University and I am quite happy that I will be able to make those trips.

Midterms

Onehundredandtwelve exams are not a small thing to correct – so I was locked up for a full weekend and spent a couple more days during the week with marking. The goal: To get the results out before the course drop date (the last day, when students can drop the course without getting a “failed” mark). I was quite a bit faster than last year, when it took me 3 weeks to correct 40 midterms of the McGill Chemistry course that I taught, so that definitely is an improvement. However, it still is a lot of work. And it was not easy for me, to keep the marking level for all exams (although I was doing question after question rather than marking a whole exam at a time), so I went over the exams another time to make sure that marking was fair. It also turned out that the exam was quite a bit too long, so I had to factor that in as well. Anyway – it’s done and it was a good test run for the final; and the average was just right as well.

Reading week …

… no lectures! But still tons of work. The midterm is coming up and I need to finalise my exam drafts. Furthermore, I have to finish my calculations & slides for the remaining lectures, also because a colleague and friend is going to give the last 2 lectures as I will be away. I also hold office hours during the break, although I expect the rush to start after – just before the exam. But with a little less load I have time to review progress so far and finish the schedule for the remaining lectures. With some additional electroanalysis material that I have covered (mostly applications,which I consider to be useful for biochemistry students) things are going to be tight at the end.