Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Field Work


I'm preparing to leave for the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) for the third time! This time I'll be collecting data for my dissertation from July 9 - August 16. You can follow along through my separate travel blog. And I'll likely post some updates here once I return home.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

ABD: My New Status

I have just completed a big step toward receiving my PhD in Geography at UNC - I successfully passed my written exams, and a combined oral exam / dissertation proposal defense. I am now officially All But Dissertation (ABD) since I've completed my coursework (for both Geography and my IGERT program), passed my exams, and defended my proposal. So, the only thing left to do is write the dissertation.

Well, that's not completely true. First I need to go to the field (Isabela Island, Galapagos) and collect data to support my dissertation - based on my two previous visits to the Galapagos. Then I'll analyze the data that will provide results for my research hypotheses. And then I'll be writing my dissertation.

But it feels good to be one big step closer!