#i just drop the fish evolution is neat i like those guys that should be dead lines in all my bios

[narelleart]

I have such a hard time putting my research interests into words - strange for me, given how much I write and how wordy I am.

I see other students in my position that can rattle off very impressive niches they want to be working in within their field. Nice little one-liners that can wrap up their interests in a neat little bow. I want one of those.

I think part of my problem is that in my field, you just can’t be quite so specific? I was questioned for having possibly too narrow of interests because I want to study Southeast Asian fishes - a broad, speciose region comprised of many countries and habitat types. And I recognize that part of that is because people are moving more and more away from studying fishes by region or even group and often more into techniques. But my research interests aren’t motivated by the techniques I’ll be using, otherwise I’d be a more general biologist and not an ichthyologist specifically. I’m in it for the fish. Their physiology and behavior are what draw me, and wow is that broad.

The closest I’ve gotten to explaining my interest is focusing on adaptations in response to environmental conditions, particularly in the case of extremophiles? (Wow do I want to get lost in studying acidophiles in peat swamps - some quick, not at all thorough literature searches suggest we still don’t really understand how they manage to live in those conditions??? Beyond the levels of acidity where most species would cease reproduction and die.) But that’s pretty much me going “idk fish evolution is neat,” with a dash of “I really like those little guys that should be dead but are still making it happen somehow.”

It feels incredibly broad compared to my peers, who are pinning down super specific physiological mechanisms to study, and similar topics.