career reflections, a telling tale...
4 years ago I was asked to deliver a talk on sea ice geophysics to a ship full of multi disciplinary researchers, primarily biologists. Of course I accepted with enthusiasm!
...so I spent many hours preparing, and then waiting for a schedule slot /asking when in the regular "all hands" meetings it would be delivered.
...and then it was delayed. And delayed. Until, "oh we have time now" on the second last day, as we leave the ice.
/1
...then arriving at the meeting, hearing "oh we just want to do a couple other small talks first you can do yours at the end we hope thats allright"
...š¬... right, I've prepared to deliver for the time I was told I have to fill...
...an hour and a bit later...
"OK now we have a talk about sea ice physical processes"
I took the floor and started with "OK everyone come back in 10 minutes its been a long time get a coffee, tea, other drink stretch out, go pee..."
/2
...which was met with great relief!!
...and then speedran a 40 minute talk on ephemeral landscapes, connected ecologies and geophysical systems... because I know everyone has the 101...
Feedback? "We should have had this talk at the start!"
Yah. I know. I tried.
The point of all this: a research career is made or broken by egos of people in secure senior roles. And mine? Well, this story tells it all. Pushed down, pushed back. Could have, should have, was never permitted to.
...here's an article on the same theme, published after the voyage:
https://arvenetternansen.com/2021/10/20/ephemeral-landscapes/
Dr. needs a living wage