Back in the office...

...after a lengthy, much-needed, holiday break.  Wish I could say I felt rested and ready, but it wouldn't be true - the holidays themselves are demanding in their own way.  Still, it's time to go back to work.

I've been largely absent from this site for quite some time.  Truth is, there are only so many hours in the day and blogging has not been the highest priority.  The immediate future looks a little more promising - we'll see.

For those of you who are former students, colleagues, and friends, let me take a few minutes to update.  2011 was a helluva year. On the academic side, the year was very demanding, but also fulfilling.  Two colleagues and I used a small grant stemming to examine the impact of the 2010 BP spill on a salt marsh site in Mississippi Sound near Bayou La Batre.  We're finishing that work now, and the results are interesting.  On a broader scale, though, we've been able to create a dynamic lab to involve undergrads in ecological research.  Something a bit unique for Small Southern, and very rewarding.  Of course, the focus here is on the classroom, and the good people in my administration were kind enough to give me 18 1/2 contact hours in the Fall of 2011, including a freshman biology section of 65 hardheads.  But, we made it.  My field zoology class, 27 strong, included a remarkable group of kids.  We had some true adventures, not the least of which included drowning a Jeep.  But everyone survived.  Life lessons.

The year was, at times, very trying on the personal front, with a number of medical issues in my immediate family.  2011 began with my 92 year old mother in rehabilitation for fractures of her left humerus and femur.  It ended with my eldest brother preparing to go to Seattle next week for allogenic stem cell transplant in treatment for multiple myeloma.  Fingers crossed.  On a significantly more positive note, my oldest daughter and her husband produced my first grandchild in August.  Young Vic is unusually smart and handsome.

Now, it's time to go back to work.  I'm seeing 2012 as a year to change some things for the better.  Let's go.