IRB can be fun. Or someone just had a little too much while putting together a PowerPoint.

If you've never had a chance to do research with human subjects you probably aren't familiar with Institutional Review Boards. Pretty much every university has them. They exist to make sure human subjects aren't harmed by people conducting research and they aren't known for being super fun entities to work with.

As part of my new job I went through the entirety of the IRB's online training. One of the modules has a case study about why studies need to get IRB approval involving a survey administered to middle school aged children asking about their sexual desires and experiences that didn't file an application for approval with the IRB. It makes sense that this could be problematic especially since their parents weren't informed or asked for consent. Some of them got pretty angry and it caused the university a bit on embarrassment.

Here's the fun part. This story is illustrated in the online training module by a picture of a shirtless middle school aged boy with his arms around the neck of a cow. I really hope it's meant to incinuate something about the content of the survey without explicitly saying it. If not, it may be the poorest choice of illustrating image in the history of man.

Either way, it's classic.

My dissertation has press coverage. And you can read it.

Very minor press coverage, but press coverage nonetheless.

I've been meaning to talk a little more about the academic part of what I do and now I have a great reason to do it.

Someone actually published something talking about something I published.

You can read the story about it on Emory's eScienceCommons.

To be perfectly honest, prior to the interview I hadn't even looked at the second article I planned on publishing about my dissertation research since I finished the defense of my dissertation. 

Technically, I still haven't, but I am excited about working on it again. I think I needed a little mental break.

Or maybe it's just a lot harder to find additional references after your alma mater cuts you off from access to scientific journals (not so nourishing for those of you who speak Latin). Don't worry, as soon as my adjunct status is official I'll once again have access to academic publications and be able to function in the world. I'm sure that's funny if you've never had access to them or missed it.

On the positive side, it gave me the last couple of months off from academic pursuits. Now I'm refreshed and excited about my research all over again.

In case you weren't forced to read it repeatedly while I was in write up, my first article is published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Go ahead. Follow the link.

Sidenote. If you google it, my name comes up as Hibbs, AC. You have no idea how much that pisses me off. I would go on a rant about why I can't understand what is so freaking hard about Campbell Hibbs, AR, but I'll assume this is a programming issue and the engine pulls the information incorrectly. At least that's what I'll tell myself since I repeatedly filled out forms listing Campbell Hibbs as my last name and I like to assume other people wouldn't decide they know better than I and publish my work as though Hibbs was my last name. It is the last word in my last name, but not my last name. Check with the Social Security Administration. They'll back me up. For more on this rant see my first post on the topic.

Did you try to read the article? See how annoying it is to not have free access to these types of publications? A little frustrating to know that there is something you want to read and know where it is, but not be able to access it, huh?

Welcome to my life for the last couple of months.

If you didn't read the abstract, the gist of the article is that the population using canal irrigation had a higher prevalence of schistosomiasis (i.e. more people got infected by the parasitic worm I was studying). It was full of sciency things like laboratory procedures and statistical analyses and graphs. Lots of graphs.

The next one I'm going to work on is a bit of a departure from that. It's more of a theoretical discussion of the decision making processes and potential rationales for the use or lack of use of canal irrigation within the two populations. If you couldn't tell from the eScienceCommons write up, that's the way more exciting part as far as I'm concerned. I'll let you know when I have it written up.

I can't let you read it though. If I posted it on my blog it would be previously published and it would be a whole big problem to get it published somewhere where it would be peer reviewed and you'd have to pay to read it. It's complicated. I know.

I just read this quote on Green Globe Environmental, Inc.'s website

 "Mike understands that while the mechanics behind a design may be incredibly complex, those of us responsible for field implementation are not..." Chuck Sizer, Senior Manager, Columbine Hills Concrete

Love it.