Our story continues...

(My home internet connection is having an existential crisis, so I'm posting from lab again.)

As you know, I submitted my fellowship application on Tuesday minus a letter of recommendation. On Thursday I got an email informing me that my application was missing a recommendation. Thanks. I was only too aware of that on my own. The email went on to demand said letter by 2 that afternoon. I stalked past my prof's office & lab, ascertained that he had not reappeared, searched the internet for any death notices (was relieved to find none), and responded saying that that would be impossible, imploring that they still consider my application. Despite the bravado of my last post, I'd really, really prefer that my application be rejected for content reasons than thrown out without even being read for want of a single letter of recommendation. They responded to assure me that my application would still be considered (phwew!), but that they really wanted that letter. (I'd really like for them to have it too!) This time I got a little bit longer; they're giving me until Monday to scrape up the letter. Of course, I despair of ever hearing back from my flaky professor, and Monday gives me 4 more days, so I asked someone else. And he came to my rescue! Peter Vitousek has come to my rescue! Shruti, my labmate and commiserator in this fellowship since she's applying too, thinks it's strange that I should have one of our time's most famous ecologists as my fallback. But he's one of my Stanford profs, and they say that it's better to have current recommendations. And my flake is also quite famous in his own specific area, whereas Peter Vitousek's reknown is more general.

So that's where things stand. My famous fallback is happy to write the letter for me and says that he'll try to have it done today. I am so relieved! And feel so guilty about all of the short notice, of course, but he's written letters for me before, so it shouldn't be much of a chore.

So let me take this time to sing the praises of Peter Vitousek! I've known him since my second quarter at Stanford, when I took his Freshman Seminar on Island Ecology. Since I already had that toehold, I asked him to be my academic advisor when the time came to declare my major. (I was really afraid of asking someone that didn't know me at all!) He was a good advisor too, extremely helpful when I was trying to figure out which grad schools to apply to. I think it pleased him that I was actually a Biology major, and one with an interest in Ecology at that. Practically everyone else in our freshman seminar went on to completely different things. All told, I think I took 3 classes that he taught. I've always really liked his lecture style. He's not bouncy and hyper, but he still conveys his passion for the field very clearly. I think it has to do with his intonation. Just love that intonation! So I've been delighted that he's given a few talks at Davis since I've come here. The first was one of the Ecology & Evolution Seminars my first year here. I've never seen a seminar so crowded! And he recognized me! Not only that, when he saw me he walked over and hugged me! I'm still in awe. The other talk he gave here was a guest lecture for a Tropical Ecology class just last month. I crashed it. It was great! Really succored my nostalgia kick.

Ok, that's enough hero worship for now. I should try to get some work done before I go home to revise my proposal for another fellowship I told my advisor I'd apply for. Yeah... This one's due Monday =P.