Posted on by Joey Hulbert

Inspired to Inspire

Many people ask

Many people ask me why I came to South Africa to study. I usually answer with “It is the best place in the world to study forest diseases”. Though I completely believe in that answer, it wasn’t the primary reason I moved here from the opposite side of the world—the USA.

LeaveComfortZoneMy name is Joey Hulbert and I am a PhD student at the University of Pretoria, studying in the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI).

I moved to South Africa for 4 reasons:

  1. I crave adventure. Once I started looking at PhD programs abroad, multiple opportunities had my attention, but I was attracted to South Africa because it offers plenty of adventure!
    AdventureBlogLink
  2. I knew I needed to leave my comfort zone. During my MSc at Oregon State University, a friend and I started a radio program called Inspiration Dissemination. The program features graduate students to introduce their research live over the air. During one of the episodes, our friend from Columbia said it best: “It is important to leave your comfort zone in order to grow into a scientist”—I didn’t know how much it would affect me at the time.
  3. FABI is exceptional. The Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute is aFABI signn oasis of plant health researchers in Africa—well actually, in the entire world! These days, it is difficult to find training in forest pathology—the study of tree diseases; many academics around the world have retired without being replaced and the continual decline in financial research support doesn’t help.
  4. There is support for my Dream Project. Finding research support is one thing, but finding research support for a project that you dream up is the real challenge. Fortunately, my advisers Mike Wingfield and Jolanda Roux were willing to support my dream, and that is the primary reason I moved to South Africa.

The PhD Project

CrowdfundedLinkCitizen science is something else I was introduced to through Inspiration Dissemination. Citizen science projects engage the public in scientific research.

YouDontHaveToBeAnExpert

Cape Citizen Science is the project we have initiated tCapeCitSciLogoo couple educational outreach with hypothesis-driven research about plant disease in the fynbos biome. We want to study a group of microorganisms called Phytophthora—translated from Greek = “Plant Destroyer”—while educating anyone who interested about microorganisms as the cause of disease, the importance of biodiversity, the consequences of introducing invasive species, and the general process of scientific research.

 

Citizen science projects are fantastic tools for education. I really enjoy designing the educational component of Cape Citizen Science and I think Madiba would approve.

EducationIsAPowerFullWeapon

My involvement in Inspiration Dissemination had a profound impact on my life. Through the program, I discovered that I am more passionate about connecting the public to science than I am about advancing science. You could say that I was Inspired to inspire others. This is why I chose to initiate a citizen science project for my PhD.

GreatestGood

Stay tuned for more blog posts about communicating science and engaging the public!

 

Posted on by davidegaglio

Life with a PhD

By Davide Gaglio

The minister said: … I now pronounce you husband and wife! What a happy moment!

Yes I am married! It was such a perfect day. (Listen this song while you reading the Blog): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEC4TZsy-Y

“…Oh, it’s such a perfect day

I’m glad I spent it with you

Oh, such a perfect day

You just keep me hanging on

You just keep me hanging on”

We had such an amazing time, having shared it with our close family and friends who traveled from both far and near to be with us. As promised here some photos:

 

 

…and now still with these beautiful moments still stuck in my mind, with my heart full of joy and “amore” …now back in my office…in front of a pile of Excel files and R codes…

I have finished the majority of my field work, so lots of analysing data and writing up awaits me now… I am at the usual stage of every PhD student… asking myself Why? Why am I doing a PhD? Why have I embarked on this journey of constant challenges? Why have I allowed MS Word and printed papers to become such a big part of my life? Why? I was thinking a lot about the answer to these questions.

As mentioned in my previous entry, Matt Might explain a PhD like this; and the following picture shows the difference that my PhD will make to humanity 😦

blip

 

Well, my answer to this question is simpler than I thought and it’s not related to humanity…but to myself, and may be a little selfish. But I do it….to be happy!!!

Do you remember that feeling of happiness when you learned that you were accepted for a PhD program? How happy did you feel when you shared your experiences with other PhD students? Or when your first conference paper was accepted?… Yes, I am happy and grateful when I have the opportunity to share my experience, my vision, the results of my work with others. I feel grateful that there were PhD supervisors in the audience who listened to my perceptions as a PhD student. And you never know, it might have influenced their vision of a supervision process…at least a bit. And it means it might potentially change the life of other PhD students …

And yes the bigger picture…there is always a bigger picture behind your small limited piece of research… you just need to learn to see it. Looking back over the past few months, reading all my previous entry of my blog about my PhD, I can see that I have managed to progress my research considerably and have, indeed, learned much about my own life.

Thanks to my terns for making my job so magic!!! Yes…you are much better than penguins!

last pic

I would like to say goodbye with this sentence:

“Pursuing a PhD, is like beginning a journey… it’s always quite scary. But as you go along in the journey, the fear you had in the beginning becomes obsolete as you open yourself up to new challenges and experiences that change you forever.”