Welcome to June Monsoon – a month of travel to the hottest and wettest realms!
SONG INSPIRATION
This month’s blog is inspired Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams much to my mother’s surprise.
SUMMERTIME
Grading complete. Seniors graduated. Students gone. Travel initiated. Summer is a blessed time of the academic calendar. While I love N’Angland this time of year, I’m already 1 week into the first block of summer travel, and I’m excited to see family and friends. I’m also thrilled for the change of pace and resultant time to think. I’ve felt motivated since EGU, and I’m anxious to dive into research after a teaching heavy semester. That research time includes recurring meetings with summer research assistants, two of whom have started their positions. While I prefer to meet in-person, I have had great success with remote workers, and it makes travel easier. This summer I intend to strike a better balance between productivity and relaxation. My work schedule is punctuated by periods of travel and rest. Hopefully by summer’s end, I’ll have a 100% battery for a very busy Fall.
WRITING
Last week, I published a student-led Venus paper with a group of students and a friend / collaborator. The manuscript is a deliverable from my first time teaching our department’s senior seminar course in Spring 2025. This truly is the best part of the job – working with motivated students. At present, I have three additional manuscripts (i.e., one under review and two others in prep for submission to journals) and a textbook chapter in progress.
In fiction, I have completed the first round of edits of the first novel in my duology. Whew! Although it took 18 months instead of 12, I feel so accomplished. But I can’t afford complacency. I need to make progress editing my second novel – the second novel of the duology – before the summer ends. Although I’m increasingly thinking these two books are, in fact, one. I couldn’t have done this without the tremendous support of loved ones, my writing partner, and the Writing Excuses podcast.
WHAT IS ACADEMIA WORTH?
On the eve of another attempt by the Office of Management and Budget to control and defund American science, I find myself asking ‘What is higher education worth?’ A part of me agrees that the system needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. But a louder of part of me is aghast at the destruction of the intellectual and scientific engine of America due to short-sighted leaders and rabid Christo-fascists (and unfortunately, we’re seeing similar trends across the globe such as in the UK). Yet, I find myself reflecting on the institution of academia. The arts and sciences deserve saving. Future minds deserve our investment now more than ever. But academia – a slew of never-ending hazings – has also thrived on a culture of exclusion drive by inflated ego, bullying, and demoralization. No matter how qualified or passionate you are sometimes it feels like you’re just not good enough. To some. To others, you make a difference. A great teacher matters to students. A great colleague matters to their department. And a great researcher can advance the bounds of human knowledge. It’s up to us to save higher education and preserve the knowledge we’ve accumulated. That means reaffirming our values and commitments, rejecting bullying and structural discrimination that function to exclude, and investing in a shared vision of the future.
CURRENT BOOKS AND SHOWS
Recently finished reading: N/A
Currently reading: New York 2140; Petrology and Plate Tectonics: an Earth Systems Approach
Recently finished watching: Invincible (s4); Law and Order (s9)
- Invincible was an entertaining spectacle, as usual. Great action / fight scenes, brutal depictions of war, and a coalescence of story threads.
- Law and Order remains a staple for my mornings before work and whenever I need background noise.
Currently watching: For All Mankind (s5); Jujitsu Kaisen (s3 – The Culling Game); Law and Order (s10); Scrubs (2026 – s1); The Floor (s5)
Thank you for reading! The next blog is scheduled for Thursday, July 2nd. Until next time….
The Planetary Novelist 