So what happened this year?

In this, the mid-point of the second decade of the twenty-first century (which is still awkward because it doesn't really have a name... nobody calls it the “teens” or anything), what happened for me professionally?

When the year started, I was an associate professor at The University of Texas Pan American. When the year ended, I was a professor at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

I made up a word. And, shockingly, people noticed it. Make you cite this post when you add “kiloauthors”, Oxford English Dictionary!

I saw a rock fall out of the sky!

My name was on the cover of a time travelling book that arrived in print this year, even though every place in the book says it was published in 2016.

My little presentation ebook I self-published got reviewed by the awesome Natalie Morales (who’s the best reason to watch The Grinder) and was translated into Russian.

I wrote or contributed to some review articles.

But I was happiest about publishing three reasonably big data-driven papers this year (plus a note): one with the most direct test of the “lobster in the pot” problem yet, one on beautiful giant neurons in shrimp, and one the crayfish pet trade. And two of them were all me. I’m happy that I still collect my own data, and not just write grants and supervise other people’s research. I want more like those in 2016, please!

But it’ll be tricky. Currently, the only thing I have in press is a chapter in the forthcoming Science Blogging book. Data collection on two projects is officially complete today, but there are, of course, lots of other teaching and service tasks to do.

Note to self: