The Plan For The Dimorphism Manuscript

The best idea seems to be to forge ahead with examining the brains of non-reproductive individuals, and combine that data into our current manuscript so that we'll have both reproductive and non-reproductive data for a stronger story. Whatever we find is interesting: either there are pronounced seasonal changes in brain structures, or there aren't. Both outcomes imply fundamental organizational processes for cyprinid brains, and I still haven't found other research looking similar phenomena. So, it's on to more western blots for NMDAR, and more brain dissections for overall size.

Today I sat down and wrote up my thoughts on all of this year's NANFA Conservation Research Grant proposals. The eight of them are the strongest group we've had yet, and I could only exclude two of them for not being as strong on conservation impact as the others. I sent my thoughts to the other two members of the committee and I'm waiting to see if their basic analyses match up to mine.