About my project…

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It has come to my attention that when changing the theme of my blog, the new theme did not have an “about” section.

So to fix this, I will post my previous about section here so you can get a little background info on who I am and what I’m researching.

“Welcome to my blog. I am an undergraduate student from the University of Lincoln, studying BSc Animal Behaviour and Welfare. The main focus of this blog will be that of my undergraduate dissertation/project which is based upon the anatomy of cetacean skulls, specifically that of the dolphin family delphinidae. Watch this site for updates on how I’m getting on…”

 

Update…

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I have noticed it has been a while since I have posted, so I figured I should probably give you an update.

Most of my time since my last post has been spent trying to find papers and relevant information for me to read. I must admit that this has gone a lot slower than I had originally hoped but I’m hoping to regain momentum and have a good bank of papers read, a database of information started and an introduction completed by the end of Wednesday 19th Nov – around 2 weeks from now. It’s a lot to get done, but I work better when I have a deadline approaching, so hopefully that will begin to show in my work levels in the coming days.

I attended a guest lecture this evening, held by Michael McGowen which was really interesting and sparked a lot of ideas in my head, for different angles that I can consider in my project – mainly in terms of the analysis/discussion of the topic. This actually made me quite excited as it gave me new ideas to research and, if I can compile my thoughts into a coherent form, may even prove beneficial to adding an quirky angle to my discussion – however this is yet to be decided.

I have read a few papers so far, but I need to read many more before I can truly understand the complexity of my project. But I am really enjoying the research so far, and it’s refreshing to be able to take a topic I’m really interested in, and challenge myself to analyse the information in a critical way – and then using that information to make predictions on where it may or may not fit in with my project.

Things have been quite slow this month, but the next 2 weeks I plan to be very productive. I intend to email more authors about data, read more papers and books on my topic, plan and write my introduction, start to produce a data-set and plan the other sections of my project.

I definitely have a busy couple of weeks ahead, but I’m sure that all will be okay and everything will start to come together soon.

Until next time…

 

Planning…

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This week I have mainly been trying to put together a timetable for effective use of my time – both for dissertation work and working on my other modules. I have managed to schedule it so I’ll hopefully be spreading my time effectively between lectures and out-of-class work.

I visited the library yesterday to do some moreĀ research and build a bank of potential papers and books to read. So far I think I have a bank of about 20-30 papers and a couple of books so that should keep me busy for a couple of days at least. I am also working on just building an overall knowledge base of the dolphins I am studying, including their general ecology and anatomy.

My aim is to have all the papers I have saved so far, read and analysed by the weekend, and to have developed a sound understanding of the basic ecology of each of the species. Hopefully having done all of this, I can then work on finding more papers to support my reading and start putting together a decent introduction draft for my formative deadline in November.

That’s pretty much it for now.

Until next time…

Title submission and emails…

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Just a short update today.

I have now submitted my dissertation title! I have no doubt it will probably change along the way – but for now I have an official starting point.

I have also sent off the email to the author of the book I mentioned in my previous post, so fingers and toes crossed that I will hear some good news on the data front soon.

That’s all I have to report for today… nothing special, but progress nonetheless šŸ™‚

Until next time…

Meetings and Emails…

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So today I met with my supervisor to discuss all things project related. I felt it was a very successful meeting and I now have a clearer route ahead of me to continue on with. The main focus of the meeting was to come up with a title for my project (which will remain unpublished for academic/privacy purposes), to receive advice on how to contact people when needingĀ to obtain data and generally to make sure I’m on the right track – which it looks like I am (thankfully!).

I recently went searching through the library to try and find any relevant literature and I came across a very interesting publication. It contained a lot on information regarding my project area and even included some very interesting images; I’m hoping that it will give me a really solid headstart in my research and help to underpin my literature review if nothing else. I also found another book that I can hopefully use just to help me gain a better understanding into my specific area of focus.

I have also loaned out a couple of dissertation help guides, in the hopes they will keep me on track in my writing of the project and ensure I do so in the correct way and to the appropriate standard.

When I got home from my meeting, I went straight to my laptop and drafted an email to send to the author of one book, in the hopes of obtaining some much needed data, which is now sat in my drafts folder, whilst I wait for my supervisor to OK it’s content and structure – after which it will be sent immediately. Fingers crossed all will go well!

Apart from that I don’t think there is anything else to report. My main aim as of this moment is just to research and read, and research and read, and then just for good luck… to research and read some more lol.

Until next time…