• Question: what you think the best question to ask you would be like, details, concept, metaphor, physiological?

    Asked by lanej012 to Claire, Joanna, Kapila, Renata, Suzanne on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Suzanne Harvey

      Suzanne Harvey answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Do you mean to ask us on here? Please ask whatever questions you like! All are interesting. I think the best questions are philosophical if you want to know why we are studying animals and what we can gain from that, but if you’re thinking of going into work in animal behaviour, the details of this work day to day might be just as useful 🙂

    • Photo: Renata Medeiros

      Renata Medeiros answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      I have been enjoying getting a great variety of questions here! It’s good to have questions that really make you think and it’s also good to have simple ones that are just fun to answer.
      I am surprised that a lot of people ask what we like the most about being scientists but hardly anyone asks about the worst things about being a scientist! I’m getting worried that you guys will get the impression that it’s the perfect job! I really love my job but it does have its dark sides!
      I particularly enjoy answering questions about storm petrels (the little seabids I study) or Procellariiformes in general (the group that storm petrels belong to). I think they are truly amazing creatures and most people aren’t even aware of their existence, which is a shame. So the best question to ask me would be something like “Can you convince me that storm petrels are fascinating animals?”. I bet I could!

    • Photo: Joanna Bryson

      Joanna Bryson answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Science is like life — it works best (it learns fastest and adjusts to a changing world) if there are lots of different kinds of questions.

    • Photo: Claire El Mouden

      Claire El Mouden answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Oooh good question! The ones I’veenjoyed answering the most have been the philosophical ones. You either do or don’t know the answer to factual questions, but with more abstract questions (e.g. What is the benefit of science?), you start off by not really being sure, but you can come up with an answer you really believe in by thinking things through….that way I learn something new too, by thinking!

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