FSML must serve scientists

[Sonda Donovan]

"Hi Sonda. Good luck with this initiative.

One word of advice from hard-earned experience.

Unless field stations become full-fledged organizations such as MBL,
they must adopt a simple rule of operations: To serve the bread and
butter requirements of scientists in the field. Spending a great deal
of money on technically-complex equipment to attract scientists using
the ""if you build it, he will come"" attitude will quickly invite
many questions from the BODs about why huge amounts of money are being
spent without commensurate return in the form of published articles.

Most marine stations have an unquenchable desire to purchase lab
equipments that require specialized technicians to operate because
they believe it will make them sexier and more attractive than other
stations. Yes, there's competition (most of the time fierce) between
stations for clients (so much for altruism in science heh?). The only
problem with this is that specialzed technicians cost a lot of money
to keep in the lab (ask any lab support manager at any university). A
perfect example was the purchase of a laser confocal microscope at a
station I served in. The beast cost over $300K and to my knowledge
still hasn't resulted in one published paper (after seven years;
almost the end of its generational lifetime when new versions are on
the market). Why? No technician to operate it. It was purchased on
the pie-in-the-sky hope that, ""if they bought it, scientists would
come"".

$300K, could have gone into a lot of bread and butter supplies and
fundamental field and lab equipment for the scientists.

Take home message: Keep it simple and serve the scientist's immediate
needs to get the data in the field. If they want fancy equipment, let
them buy it, place it in the station and staff it.

Well, anyway............good luck with all this.

Bruce Cameron