USC = University of Southern California, Los Angeles. There are other
USC's, but this is the most famous one. The University's architecture is
quite collegiate, and Hollywood often films scenes on campus. You'd
probably recognize the inner campus if you visited it.
 
The Allan Hancock Foundation has its own clean-cut building, whose exterior
is engagingly decorated with bas-reliefs of marine animals. I particularly
recall the Globigerina (a foraminifer) from my stay there in 1982 or so.
The Foundation's specialists included eminent researchers on sponges,
forams, bryozoans, polychaetes, seaweeds, and other groups; and marine
geologists as well. A typical laboratory included a reprint library,
microscopes and benches and sinks, all sorts of equipment and tools, and
grad students whose attitude might be enthusiastic or resigned, depending
on the number of years they had studied, but were always positive about
science. It was a heady experience.
 
The senior geologist, Donn Gorsline, was very supportive (he let me, a
stranger, occupy his house for several days while he was out of town), but
had no time to waste. His students were in awe of him. He was capable of
closing his office door and writing a paper, complete, in a day. But he was
not a distant person; every work day, he and his students ate lunch
together and talked about current topics in marine geology, in the same way
that British academics talk nuclear physics over tea. Woe betide the
student who nattered off-topic! I found out quickly that this was not only
a breach of manners, but also made a bad impression.
 
It is very important to talk with other specialists about your topic of
study. They can steer you away from dead ends, lead you to new ways of
thinking, and test and tighten your reasoning. The great research
universities have enough people to make this work, but most people do not
live at or near such places. It is uncommon for two malacologists, for
instance, to work at the same place. Email, and listserves such as Conch-L,
Unio-L, and Mollusca-L, have alleviated this situation somewhat by making
it possible for anyone, academic or not, to join a pool of experience and
talent. You can post a question and have it answered within hours.
Fantastic.
 
We sometimes forget that Conch-L is a very large academic tea--almost 400
people, not half a dozen. Like grad students who have studied too long, we
need some comic relief now and then. The day I arrived at USC, one lab was
filled with marine geologists cooking chili in large beakers over Bunsen
burners--their annual contest. My first impression of the students as a
bunch of cut-ups was incorrect, however. An hour later, and on every day
thereafter, they were serious about their work. They did not mind being
interrupted by a request for information, but they were definitely not
there for idle conversation during working hours. When they forgot, a
professor reminded them to stay on track.
 
So, enjoy the pigs now and then, with emphasis on "now and then." And
remember that it is just as rude to stanch a good joke as it is to
interrupt a good work session, hey?
 
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama