Welcome All!

So, as this is my first blog post I thought it would be a good idea to start by answering some questions.

First and foremost- Why did I start a blog? If you are thinking I started a blog to write even more than my 80,000 word thesis (+ countless extra words in drafts and notes), then the short answer would be yes. My slightly longer answer is I have always loved writing and I think that creating a blog is an excellent excuse to write non-scientific pieces. It is kind of therapeutic for me and I hope it will give me a positive distraction from my thesis.

Why start blogging now? That is easy- because I feel like I have something to write about now.

Who am I? I guess this question is always harder to answer than expected, from a basic demographic point of view I am a 22 year old female from South Australia with brown hair, brown eyes… okay so I’m sure you don’t care about those details. So, from a more relevant point of view I am a first year PhD candidate studying conservation psychology (what type of psychology!?). I enjoy research and studying and am lucky enough to be able to say that I truly love what I do.

Who should read this blog? Obviously everybody is welcome, and I mean everybody! (Print out my posts in 36 size font and give it to your grandparents to read!). But if you want a more specific demographic of readers, my blog will predominantly focus on studying, which as a PhD student is approximately 98.7% of my life (I may be exaggerating slightly). My blog will contain content about every aspect of #PhDlife from; research, writing, statistics (maybe I will even include some fancy statistics names, ANOVA anyone?), procrastination, crying (not joking) and how to keep your passion alive throughout your thesis. I am in no means an expert (aforementioned I am only in my first year of my PhD), but this blog (and you) will follow me along my journey. I think it is true when we say only a person completing a PhD understands what ‘the quest of knowledge’ truly entails. But, in saying that- this is definitely not a ‘PhD exclusive club’, I hope to support and inspire anyone studying at any level, in any field.

The other topics I will touch on will be conservation (it is the topic of my thesis and a huge passion of mine). I want to aim the spotlight on conservation psychology which is a relatively new and unknown field and inspire more people to think about our impact on the earth and maybe even pursue a career in conservation psychology themselves. My blog will also touch on my life generally including freaking out about being an ‘adult’ (22 is considered adulthood yeah?), my passion for photography, discovering my career and just general adventures that will be had.

Please join me throughout my journey.