Physics Professor goes to Capitol Hill with AGU to discuss Geoscience with the legislators

Dr. Huang, Associate Professor of Physics, will participate in the Geosciences Congressional Visits Day (Geo-CVD) organized by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Dr. Huang has been chosen to participate because her State’s House Representative is on the House Appropriations Committee. AGU partners with other geoscience societies to host Geo-CVD on 11-12 September in Washington, DC.

AGU will schedule meetings for Geo-CVD participants with Members of Congress and their staff so that participants can discuss their research and illustrate the importance of supporting federally funded research through agencies such as DOE, EPA, NASA, NOAA, NSF, and USGS. Facing a difficult budget environment, it is vital for the scientific community to stay involved in these discussions. The intent is to show that scientists care about how our nation’s laws affect the scientific community and that scientists want to get involved with science and politics at the national level to make a difference. This is a great opportunity for scientists to come to our nation’s capital and promote science. Geo-CVD is a great first step in establishing lasting, impactful relationships with the House Representative and Senators’ offices.

Participants will attend an intense orientation workshop on September 11. The afternoon will include a luncheon briefing on how to communicate with legislators, an overview of the Federal budget and appropriations process, and ample time for questions. A discussion with current and former Congressional Science Fellows will follow. Topics will include how to improve communication with Congress, science priorities in the current session of Congress, and preparation for the next day’s visits. Geo-CVD participants visit their congressional delegations on Capitol Hill on September 12 and attend the Annual U.S. Geological Survey Coalition Reception on Capitol Hill in the evening.

Faculty Accomplishments from 2011-Spring 2012

Well, since mine was not listed in our campus publication because of an editorial fluke, I thought I would compile the list myself and post it on my blog. I was quite stunned to find mine was missing/omitted in the latest issue of the publication. Although I did get an apology from the editor, but what has been done cannot be undone. An apology is as good as an empty promise. It does not change anything, nor does it make me feel better. I’m never the one to care much about publicity. In fact, I used to be the one who liked to sit way back in the room and wished I would blend in so that no one would notice me or that I would not have to speak. Over the years, I have changed a bit. My profession has pushed me over the limits and I have become more comfortable with public speaking and attention from other people. Too much attention can be a burden. It is not that mine was missing that upset me. What upset me was why me? Is it really an editorial mistake? Don’t people do any quality control nowadays?

Anyway, the whole thing is quite laughable. Do I really care? Well, it’s half and half. I’ve got more important things to do to fuss over this, but then I hate the feeling that I was screwed. I think I will show the publication to my friends and family whenever possible and ask them jokingly what is it that they don’t see. I will probably print out my list and show them after I show them the publication just to provide some amusement for them.

Articles Published in Refereed Journals
• Kuo, C. L., Huang, T.-Y., Chang, S. C., Chou, J. K., Lee, L. J., Wu, Y. J., Chen, A. B., Su, H. T., Hsu, R. R., Frey, H. U., Mende, S. B., Takahashi, Y. & Lee, L. C.(2012). Full-kinetic elve model simulations and their comparisons with the ISUAL observed events (accepted for publication)
• Huang, T.-Y. and M. Hickey (2012), Gravity Wave-induced Variations in Exothermic Heating in the Low-Latitude, Equinox MLT Region, J. Geophys. Res., 117, A02307, doi:10.1029/2011JA017148.
• Kuo, C. L., Chang, S. C., Lee, L. J., Huang, T.-Y., Chen, A. B., Su, H. T., Hsu, R. R., Sentman, D., Frey, H. U., Mende, S. B., Takahashi, Y. & Lee, L. C. (2011). The 762 nm Emissions of Sprites, J. Geophys. Res., 116, A01310, doi:10.1029/2010JA015949.
Manuscripts Submitted for Publication
• Huang, T.-Y. & Kane, T. J. (2012). Examining Methods Used in Extracting Long-term Thermospheric Density Trends (submitted to JASTP).
• Chiang, C. Y., Chang, T.F., Tam, Sunny W. Y., Huang, T.-Y., Lin, C. H., Chen, A. B., Su, H. T. & Hsu, R. R. (2012). Global observations of the 630-nm nightglow and patterns of brightness by ISUAL (submitted to Terr. Atmos. Ocean. Sci. Journal).
FUNDED PROJECTS AND GRANTS
• Principal Investigator. 2009 - 2012. Project: “RUI: Gravity Wave Effects in the Mesosphere/Lower Thermosphere (MLT) Region with a 2-D, Nonlinear, Multiple-Airglow Chemistry-Dynamics Model” National Science Foundation RUI ($ 183,868).
• Principal Investigator. Spring 2012. Project: “To attend EGU meeting,” Penn State Eberly College of Science Professional Development Funds ($500).
CONSULTING
2012
• Editor, Natural Science, 2012.
2011
• Editor, Natural Science, 2011.
• Reviewer for Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate, 2011.
• Reviewer for Journal of Geophysical Research – Space Physics, 2011.
• Proposal Reviewer for the National Science Foundation – Aeronomy Program, 2011.
• Proposal Reviewer for the National Science Foundation - Polar Programs (Antarctic Astrophysics & Geospace Sciences), 2011.
• Volunteer, AGU Climate Science Q&A Service, 2011.
Service to the Disciplines and to the Profession
Organizing conferences, service on conference committees
• Editor, Natural Science, 2011-present.
• Convener, “Recent Advances in the Understanding and Investigation of Wave Phenomena in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Region,” 2012 AOGS-AGU (WPGM) Joint Assembly, Singapore, 2012.
• Volunteer, AGU Climate Science Q&A Service, 2010-2011. https://sites.google.com/site/aguclimateqaservice/
Service to Public and Private Organizations
• Principal, Lehigh Valley Chinese School, 2011 –
• Conference Organizing Committee Member, Association of Chinese Schools (ACS) 2011 Annual Meeting, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Organizer, “2012 Chinese New Year’s Celebration,” Macungie, PA, 2012.
• Organizer, “2011 Chinese New Year’s Celebration,” Macungie, PA, 2011.
• President and Editor, Lehigh Valley Taiwanese Women Association, 2009 - present.
PRESENTATIONS
2012
• Huang, T.-Y., Kuo, C. L., Chiang, C. Y., Chen, Alfred, Su, H. T., & Hsu, R. R. (2012). Lightning-Induced Transient Emissions in the mesospheric airglow layers – ISUAL Observations and Modeling, European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria (invited).
• Huang, T.-Y. (2012). ISUAL Observations of Lightning-Induced Transient Emissions (LITEs), Penn State University College Science Meeting, University Park, Pennsylvania.
2011
• Kuo, C.-L., Huang, T.-Y., Chang, S. C., Chou, J. K., Lee, L. J., Chen, Alfred, Su, H.-T., Hsu, R.-R., Frey, H., Mende, S. B., Takahashi, Y., & Lee, L.-C.(2011). Full-kinetic elve model simulations and their comparison with the ISUAL observed events, AGU Fall meeting, San Francisco, California, USA.
• Kuo, C.-L., Huang, T.-Y., Chang, S. C., Lee, L. J., Chou, J. K., Chen, Alfred, Su, H.-T., Hsu, R.-R., Frey, H., Mende, S. B., Takahashi, Y., & Lee, L.-C.(2011). ISUAL Multi-band Observations of Elves, the 30th URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Huang, T.-Y. and George, R. (2011). Gravity Wave-Induced Airglow Intensity Variations in Multiple Airglow Layers in the MLT Region, AOGS 2011, Taipei, Taiwan (invited talk).
• George, R. and Huang, T.-Y. (2011). The Effects of Gravity Waves On Airglow and Minor Species in the MLT Region, 2011 CEDAR Workshop, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
• George, R. and Huang, T.-Y. (2011). Gravity-wave Induced Intensity Variations in the Mesosphere, Penn State Eastern Regional Undergraduate Research Symposium, Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA.
• George, R. and Huang, T.-Y. (2011). Gravity-wave Induced Intensity Variations in the Mesosphere, Penn State Undergraduate Exhibits, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
• George, R. and Huang, T.-Y. (2011). Gravity-wave Induced Intensity Variations in the Mesosphere, Penn State Lehigh Valley Undergraduate Research Symposium, Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Huang, T.-Y., Kuo, C. L., Chiang, C. Y., Chen, Alfred, Su, H. T., & Hsu, R. R. (2011). ISUAL 630 nm observations of Lightning-induced Transient Emissions (LITEs), European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria.
• Huang, T.-Y. (2011). Gravity wave-induced variations in exothermic heating in the MLT region, AGU Chapman Conference on Atmospheric Gravity Waves and Their Effects on General Circulation and Climate, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Academic Crisis – Judges need to be judged

Judges are in need of judgments. Recently, my student participated at an undergraduate research symposium. Our project was in the competition. He is a freshman and he just started the project with me a few months ago. I did not expect him to win. However, I do think that he had enough stuff to present and I’d be happy if he just got an honorable mention.

I have noticed that I have always held a higher standard than most people. So for me to think that he had enough stuff to present might be an understatement to others. Nevertheless, he did not even get an honorable mention at all. I found it absurd. My student was disappointed. He being only a freshman was able to tell after viewing other students’ works that his was not too bad, if not the best of all. He could not understand why those projects beat his. I tended to agree with his sentiment. The more I thought about it the more furious I became. Mind you, there are 19 branch campuses in the Penn State University College. Only 4 projects are currently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and mine is one of them. The student has been working with me on a project that is funded by NSF. None of the other projects presented at the undergraduate research symposium is funded by NSF or NASA or any other federal agency that I am aware of. The results of our work will be ready for publication in top peer-reviewed journals. I won’t comment on the significance of other participants’ works. Suffice to say that ours can be and will be published in a few months. By the way, I am to give an invited talk at an international conference on the same project in a few months. That tells you the caliber and the quality of that project.

So what is wrong with the judges? How in the world can those judges not see the significance of our work? Well, it seems to me that nowadays people are so limited to the knowledge of their own field that they know not a thing about other fields. The other thing is that people should not judge any project when their work is in the competition. Hello, this is called “Conflicts of Interest”. It never ceased to amaze me that the academic people with a Ph.D. fail to grasp that. You do not do things that will compromise academic integrity. Everyone knows it but most people become oblivious when it comes to their own interest.

Anyway, I feel sorry for my student. I thought this would be an honest competition. I was furious that he experienced the ugly side of the academic world. Sorry to vent. But it is a morale issue in academia. More and more academic people have become less honorable in issues related to honors and awards. I feel it is time someone stood up and said something to put a stop to it.

Good Eats – More Greens Please

I was in Vienna two weeks ago. I loved their pastry among other things. It is a beautiful city. One evening, my colleagues and I sat at a dinner table and we were discussing about food in different countries. Most of them did not find any American food worth mentioning. I actually like American Steak and a hearty salad. With a glass of red wine and a roll or two, I needn’t ask for more to please my taste buds.

One of the things I missed so much when I was outside the United States was a bowl of salad with Oliver oil and Balsamic vinegar. I’ve been to quite a few countries, and surprisingly people outside the US do not eat as much green leaves salad as the Americans. In Taiwan, they don’t have the greens as in the States and the choice of salad dressing is very limited. In Corsica, their salad is in a different context. I remember one time when I was with a colleague in a café for lunch at the Lightning workshop in Corsica in 2008. I was overjoyed when I saw salad on their menu. The menu was in French, but I thought salad should be universal. How different could they be? So I ordered a salad and a sandwich. When the server placed my food on the table, I was both speechless and disappointed. It was a dish of rice with tomatoes and some herbs. “That is not salad.” I blurted it out after my initial silence. Then my colleague, who can speak French, said to me, “It is. It is a rice salad. I thought you knew and I thought that was what you wanted.” Well, I saw the word “ritz”, but I thought it was not the main thing on the plate. So instead of one side dish (which would be the salad) and the main dish, I inadvertently ordered two main dishes. Naturally, the sandwich became my dinner. Essentially, it is very hard to find places that serve good green salads outside the States.

Angels in Life

I used to be quite fired up when people did me wrong. As I’m getting older, I tend to look at the people and the situations in a more positive way. I think these people who placed an obstacle in my path were angels in disguise in my life. I certainly would not appreciate their effort in making my life difficult at the moment, but I have to admit that it was these people that provided the force in me to make changes, to make me become better, and to grow out of my comfort zone. I’d say they deserve a gold-embellished Thank-you card for making the person that I am today.

Well, ideally I would do so, but in reality I think I would feel more comfortable just wishing the worst for them in my private thoughts. Alas, I’m only human.

Noise, noise, and more noise

I was awakened this morning around 6:30 AM by constant blasts of sounds from a loud speaker. I live close to a middle school about 5 min away from it. I have found that they still ask students to gather in the open field in early mornings in Taiwan and listen to what the school administration has to say. That would be fine with me, except that their sounds are really loud and become a constant noise to me. The noise does not always stop there. I went to my office early this morning since I could not get back to sleep any more. I was just about to get settled, ie, ready to work. There it goes again. The sound of construction. Unbelievable! Since I came to my host institution this September, there were not many days that were quiet. There has been construction going on, and on, and on….

What is funny is that the construction workers use loud speakers to communicate with each other. Oftentimes, I can hear they joke about something. It is ridiculous. Mind you, we are in a building where students attend their classes, and it is not just my building that is affected but also the nearby buildings too where classes are going on. I can’t believe the university would let the construction go on during the semesters. A student told me that he can’t hear very clearly what the professor says when the workers are working. Even so, this thing goes on and on and on….I guess people in Taiwan have a high level of tolerance. I have an urge to complain, but since I am just a visiting professor here and I already have complained about something else to the president of the university that I think I would learn to adopt the attitude of tolerance for a change, and hopefully the construction work will end soon. How soon? ASAP!! Speaking of complaining to higher-ups, it is very effective. After I complained, the things I complained about were dealt with promptly. Why can’t things be handled this way before people complain?

To be or not to be a scientist

After being in the business (ie, conducting scientific research) for long enough time, I started to think maybe I should do something else. I have had the thought since 2007. It all started from experiencing a hard time to get my ideas accepted by my peers. I wouldn’t give a damn (pardon my language) if my ideas got accepted or not if it weren’t for the fact that our career status critically depends on the number of publications and grants. It has become increasing annoying to see crappy papers get published while I have to work extra hard to get my ideas/work accepted published. It is also getting annoying that I have to educate my peers on some of the subjects that they should be familiar with. It is even annoying to find errors in the publications, and I have to ask myself why reviewers did not pick them up on these mistakes. Some mistakes are very obvious. I used to write short papers and tried to be succinct, but have been forced to elaborate on things that I thought my peers would surely know.

Now I just think the whole peer review process is nothing more than a joke. The journal ranking is also laughable. I think I should do something other than science. Doing scientific research is hard but supposedly fun as well. Now I just feel a bit sick of the mentality of the scientific community. Scientists are merely a bunch of close-minded people with a subjective view and they think their views are always in the right. Most of them don’t even dare to think outside the box. Scientists are supposed to be open-minded with an objective view. I’m simply disappointed in my peers and wonder if I should do something else that is easier to get satisfaction.