Today's entry on the Women in Science blog (click on the words today's entry to see it) is interesting. It talks a little about a woman who studies whales by studying their feces. How does she find the whale poop? She has a specially trained dog that sniffs it out from a boat. Really! Go to the page and see a picture if you don't believe me!
It reminds me of the woman scientist who did a lesson for our summer program. She studies harbor seals by studying their feces. She also talked about catching them to tag them. You sneak up on them on the beach and throw a net on them and then sometimes you have to wrestle them. Very physical, very messy and not at all what most people think of when they think of science. They also did autopsies (they call them necropsies when it isn't a human) on dead harbor seals and other marine mammals. Interesting. I read another article about scientists who were studying something in Lapland and because it was too remote to bring all kinds of equipment, they had to build all sorts of things along the way. The whole trip was like one long puzzle or troubleshooting session.
What is my point? I am closer than most people to the field of science and I am continually surprised by how much unusual and interesting work there is in the field. I would bet that most people have no idea what scientists do all day! Now, I'm sure not everyone would like to train a dog to sniff for whale poop, wrestle a harbor seal, or analyze dead animals, but I would bet there are many others who would be more interested in science if they knew all the varied things that scientists do.
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