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You loved your college major. You worked hard to earn your degree. And now your day job doesn’t fully use your education, engage your mind, or feed your soul. But there are still limitless opportunities to do intellectually serious work—work that will win you professional recognition, travel opportunities, and even publication in peer-reviewed journals. All you have to do is create your own academic opportunities, and Passion Projects for Smart People will show you exactly how to do it.
The perfect career guide for the era of the Ph.D. barista, the underpaid adjunct, and the gig economy, Passion Projects for Smart People will help you take charge of your career and your life. Written by a high school science teacher who has done field work on five continents, published in professional journals, and worked with NASA, Passion Projects for Smart People details how to turn side projects into career-development opportunities. Passion Projects for Smart People shows you how to develop your own research and creative projects; form collaborations with universities and public agencies; apply for grants and professional experience opportunities; travel around the world for free; and develop your career as a teacher and mentor.
Chapter 1. Have Projects
A horticulture project
A trees project
A microbiology project
A history/archaeology project
Profile: D. S. (Dewey) Livingston, historian
A wildlife project
A trash project
Profiles: Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang, Artists
Natural experiments and free data
Chapter 2. Have Affiliations and Collaborate
Profile: Richard V. Wing, classicist
University extension schools
Profile: William E. Motzer, expert witness
Profile: Raymond “Bones” Bandar, collector
Chapter 3. Apply for Things
Profile: Lindsay Knippenberg, polar traveler
Chapter 4. Travel with Purpose/Travel for Free
Profile: Kevin Witte, Geographer
Home exchanges
Profile: William Schmoker, birder
Chapter 5. Teach and Mentor
Best teaching practices
Adjunct teaching at universities
Profile: Sharon Barnett, naturalist
Chapter 6. Citizen Science Programs
Profile: Gretchen LeBuhn, professor
Profile: John Wade, Farallon Patrol skipper
Chapter 7. Publish Your Work
Profile: Ralph C. Shanks, anthropologist
Poets have always been Hackademics
Profile: Prartho Sereno, Poet Laureate
Chapter 8. How Projects fit into Happiness Theory
Profile: Charlotte Torgovitsky, native plant propagator
Projects and your Family
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Appendices:
Teacher Travel Programs web sites
University Extension Schools web sites
Citizen Science Program web sites
A Successful Application: National Science Foundation’s PolarTREC Professional Development Program for Teachers
A Successful Application: National Geographic Society’s Waitt Grant for Research
A Successful Application: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Guardian School Program
A Query Letter to an Agent or Publisher