Interdiciplinary research

How come I got the idea of using chemical methods for echological problems? My trial and error testing of methods has come to the point wher Im told by friends "if you cant do that you shouldnt let it destroy your life but remember that there are other things as well". Hmm. It would be very interesting thing to do... and having used this much time on it would be annoying not to manage this. Maybe there is a lesson to learn - when to give up? And to feel ok about giving up? To experience that this is as far as you get with your brain with given amount of time. Interesting. Hope December will show what to do in the winter. In addition to skiing :)

Interdiciplinary research sounds fancy, but in practice it means that you get criticized by both diciplines for "not doing proper research". When your identification is sometimes very modest (when lacking several crucial parts of a plant and without possibility to dig the whole thing up) you are concidered not to be proper botanists. When you accept quite some variation in chemistry data - up to the level that ecological effects are still visible - you dont do proper chemical work. When you count plants and not only animals you cant be expected to understand the animals and simply: you are not a proper zoologist. Phuhuu, some people really have dusty ideas about their research!