OK, I read that “jammy” is British slang for “lucky”. If it isn’t, please don’t tell me, because it is now one of my favorite terms.

I was reflecting on how fortunate I am - I mean, I was lucky already (amazing wife and daughter; great job; ridiculously cool friends and colleagues), but now there are three new things that really reinforce that feeling - fieldwork, sabbatical, and promotion.

First, I am headed back to Bahia de los Angeles to sample for the first time since COVID hit. And I am doing so with a friend for almost 50 years (Dave Sandstrom, neurobiologist and self-taught naturalist) and a new friend (Natalia Rodriguez-Revelo, see this post), and will overlap at the study site with Sula Vanderplank and Lluvia Flores. On top of that I have some Fundulus work this summer with a couple of McNair scholars. How cool is that?

Second, I am starting sabbatical. I always feel a little guilt about sabbatical - it is a truly incredible benefit of being a tenured professor, but it also is a bit sybaritic. I love the time to rest, write papers, hang with family, and basically refresh before another seven years of teaching and research. But one can’t help but look at those who work harder than I do to help make my life and job better (e.g., our Executive Assistants, groundskeepers, housekeepers, etc) who never get the luxury of a sabbatical.

Finally, I was just promoted to full professor. I was humbled and honored by the kind words in my letter form the Dean, my Department, and the committee. I should note that it also definitely set off my imposter syndrome - reading so many ludicrously positive things about my teaching and research is a recipe for making me think “Oh crap, they think THAT about me? I hope they don’t find out!”. But really, my overwhelming feeling is of being appreciated and supported, and how I need to keep pushing to be better at what I do, so thanks.

And now I can start muttering to the kids at the park “That’s ‘Full Professor’, damn you…”