Vagabonds in taxonomy 27 Jul 2008 A new genus name for water mites, from a recent paper in Zootaxa: Vagabundia comes from the Spanish word ‘vagabundo’ that means ‘wanderer’. It is a feminine substantive; sci refers to Science Citation Index. We pointed out some time ago (Valdecasas et al. 2000) that the popularity of the Science Citation Index (SCI) as a measure of ‘good’ science has been damaging to basic taxonomic work. Despite statements to the contrary that SCI is not adequate to evaluate taxonomic production (Krell 2000), it is used routinely to evaluate taxonomists and prioritize research grant proposals. As with everything in life, SCI had a beginning and will have an end. Before it becomes history, I dedicate this species to this sociological tool that has done more harm than good to taxonomic work and the basic study of biodiversity. Young biologists avoid the ‘taxonomic trap’ or becoming taxonomic specialists (Agnarsson & Kuntner 2007) due to the low citation rate of strictly discovery-oriented and interpretative taxonomic publications. Lack of recognition of the value of these publications, makes it difficult for authors to obtain grants or stable professional positions. [Antonio G. Valdecasas. “Confocal microscopy applied to water mite taxonomy with the description of a new genus of Axonopsinae (Acari, Parasitengona, Hydrachnidia) from Central America” Zootaxa 1820: 41–48 (2008)] Hat tip to Malte Ebach Evolution General Science Species and systematics
Ecology and Biodiversity Bugs online 9 Aug 2008 This is cool. I always like to find historical documents online; even better when they’re free. The Society for General Microbiology has scanned its journal International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM) back to the first edition in 1951 and made the archival articles free to all. Since the… Read More
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Rise of the Planet of the Moralists 1: Introduction 11 Oct 201122 Jun 2018 Rise of the Planet of the Moralists Series1: Introduction2: Chains and Trees 3: Clades and grades4: Predicting traits5: Social dominance and power This is an extended meditation upon the recent film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). There may be spoilers (first and final warning) so read at your own risk. The film… Read More
Administrative Passing thoughts and miscellany 8 Oct 20118 Oct 2011 First of all it occurs to me that people who expect the Singularity to occur simply do not get the logistic growth curve. I’ll just throw that out there. Second, the Great Migration Back to the Homeland (i.e., my move back to Melbourne) happens this week so I will probably… Read More
John: I know this is an inappropriate place for this subject but, the talk.origins newsgroup seems to be down (since the 25th at 19:05Z) and I have no idea where to look for status reports &c. I know you’re an old timer (and still active) on that group and I think you probably can contact D.I.G. Thanks Martin
WIth this disclaimer that my knowledge of university biologiy curricula is limited, beyond my home institution, I say this. I’m not sure I would say young biologists are put off from taxonomy for that reason. I mean, they might be, if they get that far in taxonomy, but taxonomy as a living science (rather than as something that happened in history)isn’t really taught. The idea that you could become a taxonomist, or what a taxonomist would do, is likely alien to most students. Taxonomy seems to be something botonists, zoologists, entemologists, microbial scientists and palaeontologists do when they happen apon something new, or new relastionships, in the course of their ‘normal’ work.
WIth this disclaimer that my knowledge of university biologiy curricula is limited, beyond my home institution, I say this. I’m not sure I would say young biologists are put off from taxonomy for that reason. I mean, they might be, if they get that far in taxonomy, but taxonomy as a living science (rather than as something that happened in history)isn’t really taught. The idea that you could become a taxonomist, or what a taxonomist would do, is likely alien to most students. Taxonomy seems to be something botonists, zoologists, entemologists, microbial scientists and palaeontologists do when they happen apon something new, or new relastionships, in the course of their ‘normal’ work.
I think the SCI issue came up after my time. Thinking about taxonomists I know, I think many have come into taxonomy from an early hobby interest in some group of organisms. Either that, or they encountered an inspiring course about some group of organisms. Some universities have courses in systematics, which may include considerable treatment of taxonomy. The real key is hooking up with a working taxonomist in a museum or in a department which has a collection of comparative material. Taxonomists are usually trained in museums, or in museum-like settings. So develoment of taxonomists depends a lot on the success of natural history museums and collections being able to support them. One of the big problems a new PhD taxonomist, who has landed a good job, has it to balance the need to do field work while young and vigorous with the need to teach and publish as needed for tenure. It seems to me that grants for taxonomic studies are a smaller pond than grants in many other areas.