My other keywords.

Scientists quickly grow accustomed to characterizing their research using a handful of words and/or phrases. My research can be pared down to a collection of terms comprising methods, study systems, and research approaches:

• genomics
• transposable elements
• comparative phylogenetic methods
• diversification
• life history evolution
• monocots

I've written a bit about my goals for this blog, mostly involving writing about the larger issues associating science with other research fields and major patterns in research. As a result, I find myself also describing my research interests in terms of broader, seemingly vague issues:

• uncertainty/error
• scale
• scope
• specificity
• rules
• definitions/semantics

These are topics that arise repeatedly in the course of my research, as well as at conferences, in meetings, and during conversations with my colleagues. I'm starting to realize how important it is for me to acknowledge how variations in viewpoints of these alternative keywords shape the scientific enterprise.