Phoebe On Evolution

[Evelio Olivo]

Eachnew staff must confront how they will identify phoebe. Will she pull you down with the undercurrents of her deep waters, or will she buoy you with the surface tension of her words? Will she draw blood with the edges of her thorns, or will she split herself at her seams and expose that which she hides inside? Will she be frustratingly pretentious, or will she eschew pretension in favor of honesty and earnesty?

That is something no one of us can determine because it is something this staff of ten passionate editors and writers (along with our platoon of absolutely vital submissions readers that invariably supply phoebe with her lifeblood and whom I do injustice relegating to a parenthetical) assembles.

Kayla Hare, Managing Editor

Kevin Binder, Fiction Editor

Bareerah Ghani, Assistant Fiction Editor

Christian Stanzione, Poetry Editor

Lena Crown, Nonfiction Editor

Emilie Knudsen, Assistant Nonfiction Editor

Kate Keeney, Webmaster and Social Media Manager

Leah Sumrall, Blog Editor

Jihoon Park, Layout and Design Editor

PHOEBE: Well, it's not so much that you know, like I don't believe in\r\n it, you know, it's just...I don't know, lately I get the\r\n feeling that I'm not so much being pulled down as I am being\r\n pushed.

ROSS: Pheebs, I have studied evolution my entire adult life. Ok, I\r\n can tell you, we have collected fossils from all over the world\r\n that actually show the evolution of different species, ok? You\r\n can literally see them evolving through time.

PHOEBE: Ok, Ross, could you just open your mind like this much, ok?\r\n Wasn't there a time when the brightest minds in the world\r\n believed that the world was flat? And, up until like what, 50\r\n years ago, you all thought the atom was the smallest thing,\r\n until you split it open, and this like, whole mess of crap\r\n came out. Now, are you telling me that you are so unbelievably\r\n arrogant that you can't admit that there's a teeny tiny\r\n possibility that you could be wrong about this?

PHOEBE: You just abandoned your whole belief system. I mean, before, I\r\n didn't agree with you, but at least I respected you. How, how,\r\n how are you going to go into work tomorrow? How, how are you\r\n going to face the other science guys? How, how are you going\r\n to face yourself? Oh! That was fun. So who's hungry?

ROSS: Pheebs, I have studied evolution my entire adult life. Ok, I can tell you, we have collected fossils from all over the world that actually show the evolution of different species, ok? You can literally see them evolving through time.

PHOEBE: Ok, Ross, could you just open your mind like this much, ok? Wasn't there a time when the brightest minds in the world believed that the world was flat? And, up until like what, 50 years ago, you all thought the atom was the smallest thing, until you split it open, and this like, whole mess of crap came out. Now, are you telling me that you are so unbelievably arrogant that you can't admit that there's a teeny tiny possibility that you could be wrong about this?

PHOEBE: You just abandoned your whole belief system. I mean, before, I didn't agree with you, but at least I respected you. How, how, how are you going to go into work tomorrow? How, how are you going to face the other science guys? How, how are you going to face yourself? Oh! That was fun. So who's hungry?

Instrucciones: Escribe oraciones sobre el videoclip usando las palabras dadas. Puede cambiar la forma de las palabras o agregar palabras, pero no puede cambiar el orden de las palabras. Usa tiempo presente.

Ross:What? You don't, you don't believe in evolution?

Phoebe: Nah. Not really.

Ross:You don't believe in evolution?

Phoebe: I don't know, it's just, you know...monkeys, Darwin, you know, it's a, it's a nice story, I just think it's a little too easy.

Ross:Too easy? Too... The process of every living thing on this planet evolving over millions of years from single-celled organisms, is-is too easy?

Phoebe: Yeah, I just don't buy it.

Ross:Uh, excuse me. Evolution is not for you to buy, Phoebe. Evolution is scientific fact, like, like, like the air we breathe, like gravity.

Phoebe: Oh, don't get me started on gravity.

Ross:You uh, you don't believe in gravity?

Phoebe: Well, it's not so much that you know, like I don't believe in it, you know, it's just, I don't know, lately I get the feeling that I'm not so much being pulled down as I am being pushed.

Ross:How can you not believe in evolution?

Phoebe: I don't know. just don't. Look at this funky shirt!

Ross:Pheebs, I have studied evolution my entire adult life, okay? I can tell you, we have collected fossils from all over the world that actually show the evolution of different species, okay? I mean you can literally see them evolving through time.

Phoebe: Really? You can actually see it?

Ross:You bet. In the U.S., China, Africa, all over.

Phoebe: See, I didn't know that.

Ross:Well, there you go.

Phoebe: Huh. So now, the real question is, who put those fossils there, and why?

Ross:Ok, Pheebs. See how I'm making these little toys move? Opposable thumbs. Without evolution, how do you explain opposable thumbs?

Phoebe: Maybe the overlords needed them to steer their spacecrafts.

Ross:Please tell me you're joking.

Phoebe: Look, can't we just say that you believe in something, and I don't.

Ross:No, no, no, Pheebs, we can't, ok, because...

Phoebe: What is this obsessive need you have to make everyone agree with you? No, what's that all about? You know what? I think, I think maybe it's time you put Ross under the microscope.

Phoebe: Uh-oh. It's Scary Scientist Man.

Ross:Ok, Phoebe, this is it. In this briefcase, I carry actual scientific facts. A briefcase of facts, if you will. Some of these fossils are over 200 million years old.

Phoebe: Ok, look, before you even start, I'm not denying evolution, okay? I'm just saying that it's one of the possibilities.

Ross:It's the only possibility, Phoebe.

Phoebe: Ok, Ross, could you just open your mind like this much, okay? Now, wasn't there a time when the brightest minds in the world believed that the world was flat? And, up until like what, 50 years ago, you all thought the atom was the smallest thing, until you split it open, and this like, whole mess of crap came out. Now, are you telling me that you are so unbelievably arrogant that you can't admit that there's a teeny tiny possibility that you could be wrong about this?

Ross:There might be a teeny tiny possibility.

Phoebe: I can't believe you caved.

Ross:What?

Phoebe: You just abandoned your whole belief system. God! I mean, before, I didn't agree with you, but at least I respected you. How, how, how are you going to go into work tomorrow? How, how are you going to face the other science guys? How, how are you going to face yourself? Oh!

Phoebe: That was fun. So who's hungry?

Microbes often live in a crowd with other microbial species and compete for limited nutrients or space. In order to survive, microbial species deploy various strategies to co-operate with their neighbors or antagonize them. In the Malik lab, Phoebe is interested in understanding the antagonism between fungi and bacteria. She is applying experimental evolution to understand how microbes adapt to the selection pressure imposed by other antagonistic species and biological consequences of the co-evolution between two antagonistic species. This approach will yield critical insights into novel targets and molecular mechanisms of genetic conflict in the microbial world.

In her spare time, Phoebe enjoys cooking, making pottery, jogging, swimming, and reading. Phoebe likes water a lot; living in Seattle has been very pleasant to her as she enjoys tranquil and expansive views when jogging around the waterfronts.

My name is Phoebe and I am currently a PhD candidate in the palaeontology lab here at Flinders University. I joined the Flinders Palaeontology lab in 2018 when I was offered an Honours project exploring the morphology of a group of birds called the Palaeognaths. This opportunity really surprised me, but through my time as an undergraduate student I had developed a keen interest in morphology and evolution, so I went for it.

I started uni studying health sciences, where a brilliant teacher helped me see how interesting morphology is. However, I was drawn towards the study of other animals rather than humans, and so transferred to the biological sciences at Flinders. During this time, I spent almost 3 months completing field work in South Africa and it was there that I realised avian evolution and diversification would become a passion of mine.

Now, here I am, scaling the PhD mountain, studying just that. I am researching a group of large, extinct birds from Australia, the Dromornithids, of which I am describing a recently discovered skull from a species which survived through to the Pleistocene. Once complete, I will use the inner ear to assess evolutionary changes surrounding locomotion, and finally, delve deep into the complexity of phylogenetics to look at the evolution of this group, as well as Aves as a whole.

In doing a PhD in the Flinders Palaeontology Labs, I have had so many further opportunities available to me. I have presented at national and international conferences, travelled to New Zealand, helped lead an amazing palaeontology society, and been allowed to follow little rabbit holes which really excite and challenge me. This includes a small paper on the identification of bone infections in fossil birds. I am really enjoying being immersed in this world of scientific research.

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