Thanks for the explanation about how you and most scientists do interviews and use the material for writing an article. I work for a research center and they have some media training sessions to prepare scientists for talking to journalists, which I have taken a few times. It is always helpful for both sides of the conversation to know what to expect.
You seem like a really nice person and thanks you very much for explaining your process. An extra big thank you for explaining the reasons behind the process. But as a scientist I don't have the media training that politicians and lobbyists get and I have been misquoted enough (as well as read totally wrong things about our science) that I would decline to be quoted by you. Feel free to talk to the PR specialist of the university that I can refer you to.
I understand that! Many universities do offer media training, which can help. I also often contact PR people from the uni, and they usually serve to connect me with scientists who are willing to talk. But in the end, it's your call, and I have myself said "no comment" a few times.
I have been misquoted by ignorant journalists. More often, it was my late wife who was being misquoted by ignorant in inattentive journalists. And they have also frequently misconstrued statements that they didn't understand the context of. This was always a guaranteed part of any and every interview article written. Their ignorance and lack of contextual focus also frequently led them to choose the strangest things to quote and comment on, which would always detract from what should have been the real focus of what they were supposedly writing about. In our cases, these were always small-time news journalists with presumably small-time standards. It was always frustrating and sometimes embarrassing due to the poor quality of the published results. I have also witnessed similar results that were experienced by other people being interviewed and badly reported on.
PS: I previewed a bit of your book on Amazon. You wrote a lot about squirrels being smarter than you. Chicken wire is not designed to keep squirrels out of your tomatoes. The name "chicken" suggests that type of wire fencing is for keeping big critters – like chickens – inside or out of some area.
Hardware cloth of an appropriate mesh size is what you need. It is literally "cloth" woven (and welded) out of wire rather than thread, which is why it's called "hardware." Another term that could possibly be applied is "screen" although that suggests insect screen. Insect screen would not keep squirrels out of your tomato planter because they could and would chew through those fine wires with great ease. But any decent hardware store or builder's supply store should have a variety of options available. You would need to use a hardware cloth with fairly small holes so the squirrels couldn't reach through. And the wires used to weave the cloth would have to be heavy enough to discourage the squirrels from trying to chew through.
A sheet of hardware cloth could be rolled into a cylinder and wired together to stay in that shape. A flat cap of the same hardware cloth could be wired to the top of the cage. The cage could be held down with several "stakes" made of pieces of heavier wire hooked into the hardware cloth. Then you could sit back and laugh at the frustrated squirrels, and later enjoy harvesting your tomatoes and getting to eat them yourself.
Thanks for the explanation about how you and most scientists do interviews and use the material for writing an article. I work for a research center and they have some media training sessions to prepare scientists for talking to journalists, which I have taken a few times. It is always helpful for both sides of the conversation to know what to expect.
This was great!
Aww thanks!
You seem like a really nice person and thanks you very much for explaining your process. An extra big thank you for explaining the reasons behind the process. But as a scientist I don't have the media training that politicians and lobbyists get and I have been misquoted enough (as well as read totally wrong things about our science) that I would decline to be quoted by you. Feel free to talk to the PR specialist of the university that I can refer you to.
I understand that! Many universities do offer media training, which can help. I also often contact PR people from the uni, and they usually serve to connect me with scientists who are willing to talk. But in the end, it's your call, and I have myself said "no comment" a few times.
I have been misquoted by ignorant journalists. More often, it was my late wife who was being misquoted by ignorant in inattentive journalists. And they have also frequently misconstrued statements that they didn't understand the context of. This was always a guaranteed part of any and every interview article written. Their ignorance and lack of contextual focus also frequently led them to choose the strangest things to quote and comment on, which would always detract from what should have been the real focus of what they were supposedly writing about. In our cases, these were always small-time news journalists with presumably small-time standards. It was always frustrating and sometimes embarrassing due to the poor quality of the published results. I have also witnessed similar results that were experienced by other people being interviewed and badly reported on.
PS: I previewed a bit of your book on Amazon. You wrote a lot about squirrels being smarter than you. Chicken wire is not designed to keep squirrels out of your tomatoes. The name "chicken" suggests that type of wire fencing is for keeping big critters – like chickens – inside or out of some area.
Hardware cloth of an appropriate mesh size is what you need. It is literally "cloth" woven (and welded) out of wire rather than thread, which is why it's called "hardware." Another term that could possibly be applied is "screen" although that suggests insect screen. Insect screen would not keep squirrels out of your tomato planter because they could and would chew through those fine wires with great ease. But any decent hardware store or builder's supply store should have a variety of options available. You would need to use a hardware cloth with fairly small holes so the squirrels couldn't reach through. And the wires used to weave the cloth would have to be heavy enough to discourage the squirrels from trying to chew through.
A sheet of hardware cloth could be rolled into a cylinder and wired together to stay in that shape. A flat cap of the same hardware cloth could be wired to the top of the cage. The cage could be held down with several "stakes" made of pieces of heavier wire hooked into the hardware cloth. Then you could sit back and laugh at the frustrated squirrels, and later enjoy harvesting your tomatoes and getting to eat them yourself.
I'm sorry that you've been misquoted in the past. As I mentioned, we all do our jobs in different way...and to different levels of quality.
Re: squirrels, I currently do have a sturdy cage with hardware cloth.
Wow!