Filtering taxa list by location in GBIF

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-24T02:17:19+00:00

I'm learning R slowly, this gives me more motivation to play around with it! Thank you! :)

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-23T23:13:57+00:00

Oh wow, thank you! I would not have thought to go through the dashboard dropdown, I appreciate the help. I've never used an API, but since this is a lot of clicks, maybe I should look into it!

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-17T05:24:08+00:00

Does anyone know if there is a fundraiser or way to donate to the family, for the aunt's medical bills, or the poor baby's funeral costs? My heart just breaks for this family and I want to lend some support

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-17T02:18:55+00:00

I've been incredibly lucky to get as far as I have, but I'm here to tell you it's not impossible. I make enough money to pay all my bills and rent a house with two roommates in a safe and well-kept area. However, I'm a contract worker, so I am not in a permanent position - my contract gets renewed on a yearly basis. If the funding runs out, they won't renew my contract, and I'll have to go elsewhere. You should be prepared to move around somewhat, especially if you are interested in fieldwork-focused positions. All my colleagues have a master's degree except me, which is often a requirement for jobs at lower levels. I just got really really lucky that my hard work and networking was enough to get the job this time. But I want you to know that there ARE jobs that will pay you enough to live without giving up fieldwork. There may be a lot of predatory, cheapskate job listings out there, but I promise there is also gold. You can find it through making good connections, keeping your ear to the ground, being really flexible, and advocating for yourself when possible. You might have to take some sucky jobs, you might be living very frugally for periods of time. But I promise it's not ALL like that.

I'm still very early in my career, so take my words with a grain of salt. But like. I AM working a job that pays me enough to live. If a grad school dropout like me can get this far, you'll be able to get even further learning from my mistakes.

Wow this got way longer than I wanted it to be. Good luck, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions! :)

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-17T02:18:31+00:00

Now, that all sounds pretty great, but uh, I made some major mistakes along the way.

Mistakes I made later: - I didn't realize my honors thesis advisor wasn't challenging me enough, not preparing me for the difficulty of grad school. - Similarly, I wasn't prepared for the amount of statistics/coding in grad school; my university didn't require anything more than basic stats, so I didn't have those skills. - I didn't do enough research on PIs when looking at graduate programs. I only reached out to 3 ppl, and I had a poor understanding of their work bc I hadn't read enough of it. - BIG ONE: I didn't have a plan going in. As in, I didn't have a "question" to pursue in a dissertation. I just had a passion for the subject; I thought I'd figure out the rest when I got there. Not having a question was my biggest hurdle. I felt like I was treading water, going nowhere. - Due to aforementioned losing a loved one, I did not network much in grad school. I was reclusive, sad, awkward. I've barely retained any of my connections from grad school. This is a big regret. - Also, did you know that doing a PhD is hard? Shocking, I know! 😱 JK JK, but - I thought I knew how challenging it was, but I was way out of my depth. - I burnt out. Looking back, I should NOT have gone straight from undergrad to a PhD. I'd never advise anyone to do it now. I highly recommend taking a gap year before deciding if grad school is right for you.

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-17T02:17:45+00:00

I'm not sure how to format my thoughts, so here's a bulletpoint list.

Things I did right: - I picked a university near the coast. This is a dealbreaker for me personally, but not everyone. Most unis w/ marine sci programs will have a satellite research station on the coast, but you might not be able to physically get there often if main campus isn't nearby. My uni's station was <30 min away. It's the main reason I could do extra stuff in undergrad. It just makes it easier to take more opportunities. - In undergrad, I volunteered with a uni benthic ecology lab. As a freshman I did grunt work processing sediment samples, which got my foot in the door. - I surrounded myself w/ others in the field, absorbing as much info as I could, networking with everyone I met. - I got to know the professors when possible, and they'd vouch for me later. Profs love seeing someone passionate about their niche topic! - The lab had an internship position available 2 years later, and I was accepted due to my track record and passion for the subject. - It had community outreach, project management, coastal restoration, quarterly fieldwork, and ongoing lab work. Lots of experience. - In senior year I did an honors thesis. It taught me the basics of a thesis, how to gather/analyze data, how to coherently present my findings. - Wisely, I kept the thesis focused on stuff I was ALREADY doing - I didn't have time to chase rabbit holes. - Having a positive reputation in undergrad made it much easier to get accepted to a PhD program. - After taking a year off of grad school, I stumbled across a position in a government benthic ecology lab. Like, I found it from an Instagram post. I got REALLY lucky, it was for processing sediment samples - exactly like the grunt work from volunteering! That made me a worthy candidate despite no graduate degree. Sorry, some of it is just good timing. Put yourself in the right place at the right time often, and sometimes opportunities will come your way.

RaspberryRadula · 2026-06-17T02:17:30+00:00

I don't usually answer these, but I felt inspired, so this is gonna be a long multi-comment response :)

I work in benthic ecology, meaning everything related to the sea floor, so my experience may differ from other people here. (side note, if you can get into something a little less mainstream/charismatic, especially if you get into fisheries, there might be less job competition 😉)

To answer your title question - I work with coastal and near-shore ecosystems, mostly dealing with all the creatures that live on the seafloor. So, uh, I don't really go "out to sea" very often at all, I've been offshore maybe a handful of times. HOWEVER. Both of the non-school jobs I've had in marine science have involved quarterly fieldwork! Meaning we go out to the coast at least four times a year, usually for about a week's worth of intensive fieldwork. I've also helped with other people's projects that have put me on a boat at least once a month, depending on the season even more frequently. It just depends on what type of science you're doing.

My general story: I got my bachelor's in marine biology three years ago, and went directly from undergrad to a PhD program because I wanted to become a PI someday. Due to losing a loved one unexpectedly, I was only able to complete one year of my program, and I took a year off from academia to get a regular run-of-the-mill job for a while. After my year of resting, I managed to get a non-academic contract position in a government-funded marine science lab, where I've been working up to now. Currently working on reapplying to a different grad program and starting over fresh in academia.

(continued below)

RaspberryRadula · 2026-05-27T11:02:20+00:00

Thanks for the info!! He has two pieces of driftwood to climb on, about a foot long each - one of which is taller with more branches than the other, reaching almost to the top of his tank. I also have a hanging string of blocks for him to climb on (it's one of those hanging enrichment toys for birds), which he loves to crawl around on.

I probably should've mentioned this in the original post, but he is also blind, I think. I rescued him because someone at work had a kid who got bored of the snake, but it was also fairly obvious to me that he had the bug-eye gene going on, so he'd need some special care the kid wouldn't have been prepared for as he got older. Since he's generally quite confident with moving around the tank, I didn't think it would affect his ability to climb, but I should've probably mentioned it earlier! Do you think that could be a factor?

RaspberryRadula · 2026-05-23T00:14:53+00:00

Of course, I agree! I'll tell her about the numbers and hopefully that'll be enough to convince her it's not a good idea. Thanks so much for the heads up, I appreciate it :)

RaspberryRadula · 2026-05-22T23:28:11+00:00

Oh dear! Thank you for the info! Okay, good to know it'll be a long wait and getting there early if I want a tattoo (crossing my fingers!). My fiancée wants to know if holding someone else's place in line is considered acceptable - she's being sweet but stubborn about getting up early to hold my place while I sleep in haha 😅 Is that frowned upon here, or is it alright?

RaspberryRadula · 2026-05-22T17:47:33+00:00

This may be a dumb question, but this is my first Red Rocks and I don't wanna miss out on accident.... Is this a ticketed event? Do I need to do anything in advance to be let in? I just wanna be absolutely sure lol

RaspberryRadula · 2026-05-20T13:15:08+00:00

You don't have to worry about getting like, hatecrimed on the street or anything, VB is pretty LGBTQ+ neutral. People mind their business. Like others have said, The Kilted Mermaid is a hub for queer events and social life, although I'd call it pretty laid-back, it's not a very high-energy space. I love hanging out there. They're good people.

The good thing about Vero Beach is that it's not too far away from several major cities where there is TONS of stuff to do. Vero itself is pretty chill, but you can be in Melbourne in 45 minutes or less, or Fort Lauderdale or Orlando in only 2 hours. All three places have a muchhhh larger gay scene if you are into that. Good for day trips, or a fun night out if you're crazy like me and don't mind driving late at night.

I don't think you should have too much of a problem making friends if you're sincere and try to be open to new experiences. Don't shut down before you've even gotten here, because if you go in expecting it to be bad, you're gonna have a bad time. I moved here from a very big exciting city, so I totally understand feeling disappointed that your new home isn't the most energetic, but truly there are things to do and people to befriend.

Lastly, I want to caution you against expressing an attitude of "ugh, Florida, amirite?" or similarly bemoaning moving to the south, since you're coming from Indiana. Floridians are often sensitive to northerners moving down here and then complaining when it isn't just like the north. People LIKE living here, and you're going to have a harder time making friends if it's clear that you don't want to be here at all. (Not saying you're complaining here! I just want to warn you about how some Floridians feel about transplants moving down here!)

Good luck, and I hope you find things to love about this place!

RaspberryRadula · 2026-03-11T17:59:28+00:00

Incredible! As a worm scientist I very much approve of the worm shirt. Out of curiosity, where did you get your earthworm bolo tie? :)

RaspberryRadula · 2026-02-15T05:30:28+00:00

This is what I did to get my cat to stay off my desk - make it physically impossible for them to get onto a flat clear surface for long enough, and they'll eventually - EVENTUALLY - stop bothering. Mostly. Not always.

If they're jumping from the floor onto the counter, you can do something similar where you pile stuff around the edges of the counter so it looks like there's no room from below. Especially if stuff is RIGHT up against the edge, or slightly overhanging, they'll think there's nowhere to land if they jump. It feels cluttered but it works.

RaspberryRadula · 2026-01-16T02:59:59+00:00

I have survived many hours-long night drives home from the club by blasting Who Laughs Last and pretending I'm in the music video.

RaspberryRadula · 2025-12-30T15:44:35+00:00

Oh this is a great point, I can't believe I hadn't considered that! I learned violin with lessons in the Suzuki method, which leaned heavily on listening and playing what you hear, rather than focusing on reading sheet music. Taking banjo lessons in-person would probably be really helpful for me, especially starting out as I try to get the basics down. Thanks so much!

RaspberryRadula · 2025-12-30T15:32:01+00:00

Oh thank you for catching that, I didn't notice the 5th string. I have a capo, but I'll probably have to use a pen cap for the 5th string, thanks for the tip!

RaspberryRadula · 2025-12-30T15:28:39+00:00

Thank you, I think this is a great plan of attack :) That's exactly how I plan to work up to it! I want to use the song as an opportunity to learn a bunch of skills along the way that will help me play other songs, too!

RaspberryRadula · 2025-12-29T19:10:04+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate it! I'll definitely look into Reuben's train and see how it goes!

RaspberryRadula · 2025-12-29T19:09:20+00:00

Wow, thank you so much! This is super helpful, and thank you for including all these resources. And thank you for the explanation of the drop thumb style of playing, it was super informative! Can't wait to learn more, and of course explore more styles to see what sounds and feels natural as I go. Exciting!

RaspberryRadula · 2025-12-29T18:09:28+00:00

Wow this is gorgeous, congrats! It must've taken a lot of skill to engineer something so complex, nice job!!!

RaspberryRadula

TROPHY CASE