Niguidula+Update+April+19,+2015

This week I presented an update presentation to the rest of those working on the full year senior theses. For the update, I very quickly reviewed the main ideas behind the first half of the thesis, then explained the findings from each of the five interviews I have completed so far. This was a good exercise as it forced me to look at all the data I have gathered so far, rather than at the individual pieces. In hindsight, the data I have collected so far is interesting, but I am still not sure how I am going to effectively integrate it into the paper. Making the presentation also made me realize that the project may benefit by changing the original plan. At the end of last semester I fully intended to draft policy recommendations based on the findings, but so far it seems that what I have found indicates that changes may be needed on a different level. Perhaps the funding and publishing systems that scientists have to participate in are what need to be changed. I also realized that more research into the social science literature may be useful. The feedback from the presentation was useful: I was told to look into OneHealth, an organization in the UK that was involved in the badger culls, investigate further the connection between invasive species and climate change, and think about the idea that the publishing and funding systems are driven by short-term goals that are easy to quantify over long-term goals.