July 2026 How I became a professor at MIT; birds and art
When I was teaching, for the last class of the term, I would give a talk on How I Became A Professor at MIT. I sent it to my friend Marisa the other day and she loved it so much I thought I'd post it here, too.
And, now, back to Nature Notes.
Tuesday July 7 On my way to a bird meeting in Newport RI, I stopped in Providence to go to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) museum and have dinner with a friend. I was tickled by this owl beaker, made in 1556, with a coconut shell body, gilded wings that flap and a gilded head that detaches to form a cup. The label said it was German, and that "Coconuts - shipped from India and South and Central America - were rare in the 1500s in northern Germany but valued as medicinal and restorative. Coconut milk was considered a remedy or aphrodisiac."
The Wilson Ornithological Society meeting was held at a college right next to Newport's famous cliff walk, handy for a little early morning or lunchtime birding. I noticed a few differences between ornithological and materials science conferences. First, every day starts with a birding outing. Second, at about slide 2 or 3 of nearly all the talks, is a photo of the presenter, smiling, holding the bird they're studying in their hands, having caught it in a mist net. Third, one guy sitting in the back of the room, having trouble seeing some detail on one of the slides, simply pulled up his binoculars to get a better look. And fourth, the attire at the bird meeting was a lot more casual than most materials meetings, generally featuring a t-shirt with the bird under study or the conservation organization someone worked for.
Sunday July 12 Went to the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester MA to see an exhibit of paintings by Milton Avery, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb, who all painted in Gloucester in the 1920s-1940s. This Milton Avery painting captures people watching the total solar eclipse on August 31, 1932; it reminded me of seeing the total solar eclipse in Vermont with Susan a few years ago.
Tuesday July 14 Went to Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology to look at puffin and auk bills, as a colleague had asked about their unusual shape - deep but very narrow. While I was there, I noticed this drawing on the white board, in honor of both National Macaroni Day (July 7) and the recent 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Those ornithologists couldn't resist combining the two events with a patriotic macaroni penguin. I especially liked its Pilgrim-style shoes.
It's been very hot and murky with the smoke from the Canadian and Minnesotan wildfires. This rabbit was flaked out in my back yard. And the sun looked like something out of a science fiction movie.
Friday July 17 I'm in Provincetown visiting Susan for a few days. Went to Race Point to look for piping plovers - saw several chicks, little fluffballs running along the sand, stopping now and then to poke at something, legs flying, looking a bit like the old road-runner cartoons. The adults flew in once in a while to check on them. I was struck by how deserted the beach was away from the parking lot.
An article in the local paper reported that a crested caracara was seen standing on the Visitor Center near Race Point a few days before - highly unusual as they normally live in Florida, Texas, Mexico and Central and South America.
Monday July 20 Had a spectacular time on a whale watch: perfect cool sunny day, calm water, boat only sparsely filled with passengers, and whales everywhere, even close to the boat. The naturalist on the boat thought we saw over 40 whales, including 5 calves with their moms. Also saw 10-20 gray (grey?) seals near Long Point on the way out; the naturalist informed us that the collective noun for seals is a "pod" when swimming but a "bob" when just floating. A couple of videos of the whales:
Wednesday July 22 Noticed these impressive bird blinds on the town tourist office.
Monday July 27 The blue jays are molting; almost every day I'm finding their feathers on the ground.
Tuesday July 28 Susan was in NYC this week and went to the Morgan Library. One of the ceilings was an iron grillwork, decorated with birds, each one with a different bill shape. Amazing!
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| Susan Brand |
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| Susan Brand |
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| Susan Brand |
Thursday July 30 Drove down to Princeton NJ on Tuesday to visit my friends Kevin and Martin, who introduced Jeannie and me. Also met up with Cassie Stoddard, an ornithologist at Princeton, to talk about the book and birds. Today, drove up to Provincetown to be there to cheer on the Pan Mass Challenge bikers on Sunday. Stopped at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich CT where they had a remarkable display of minerals, including this one, arranged according to the color spectrum. I hadn't realized that there were minerals of such a range of colors.
Friday July 31 Spectacular moonrise this evening to close out the month.
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