August 7, 2010

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Dear friend of the blog and frequent commenter the Dog Zombie just got her masters!!!!! She studies dog brains by pursuing DVM and MS degrees.

By Jason G. Goldman

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Dear friend of the blog and frequent commenter the Dog Zombie just got her masters!!!!! She studies dog brains by pursuing DVM and MS degrees. One degree down, and two to go!

She writes (via email) that she was

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a little worried that people would think "why do I care about something touchy-feely like whether hospitalized dogs are stressed?" But people did show up, and asked really good questions, so I gather that they were listening and absorbing. A lot of people told me I did a good job, so I presume that I did. Actual defense went fine. Really glad to be done :)

Personally I think it is tremendously important to know about the effects of hospitalization on dogs, both for practical/clinical purposes, but also in a broader sense because it helps us understand the complex effects of environment on biology and behavior.

So I thought we'd have a little blog party for her, here. Leave a note in the comments, and if you've got something you'd like to share as well, consider this an open thread.

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

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