It was the best of times, it was the worst of times? Although it did sometimes feel like the latter in 2017, the numbers suggest that it was mostly the former, or maybe I’m just a positive revisionist. But that is quite OK!
1 The number of successful NSERC Discovery Grant applications I made. Yay!
2 The number of my graduate students who defended their theses. A PhD for Luis Malpica Cruz, and an MSc for Adrienne Berchtold. The presentations and performances were superb; the celebratory cakes were divine. Those were definitely the best of times.
4 The number of new people who joined the lab. Jillian Dunic in January, and Simon Brandl, Melissa Orobko, and Jessica Edwards in September.
5.8 The number of degrees Celsius during my dive on 3 Feb – my coldest ever.
7 The number of Underwater Alphabet columns I wrote for the newsletter of the village I live in. Fun factoids about local marine wildlife, one letter at a time. I will get to Z, eventually.
8 The number of return flights I took this year: Victoria, Ottawa (twice), Edmonton, Curaçao, England, Sweden and Australia. Shamefully bad for my carbon footprint, but I’ve tried to follow former TMEL alum Brett Favaro’s advice from The Carbon Code (best book I read in 2017!) and always had at least two reasons to travel.
12 The number of papers I co-wrote that were accepted or in press
21 The number of days I spent teaching the Marine Behavioural Ecology field course to 22 fantabulous students in Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island – my favourite place in the whole world.
25 The number of pretty pictures of fishes I tweeted for #25DaysOfFishmas (and the topic of a forthcoming post)
34 The number of dives I did this year, possibly a decadal low. Not the best of times.
60 The number of students in the new, 4th-year Behavioural Ecology class I taught in the Fall. They were fun, engaged and challenging, which made the huge effort I put into the course rewarding.
60 Also the number of research reports I took with me to Australia to mark during a workshop. I’m still amazed Air Canada allowed me on with such a heavy backpack. The only time ever that I was glad for jetlag.
100-150ish The number of runs I did, discovering some of the most scenic spots in my own backyard and beyond, usually with a gaggle of crazy, trail-loving friends.
283 The number of papers I read (like actually read from title to acknowledgements), falling short of my goal of 365, but hey, you gotta live a little, right?
355 The number of days since my sabbatical in France ended. How I miss Montpellier!
1,336 The number of days until my next sabbatical…
Sea pearls 