Hola from Maine.

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meganisoptera
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 10:18 pm
Diet: Vegan

Hola from Maine.

Post by meganisoptera »

Hello! I just joined today and am excited to read and participate in some interesting non-youtube based vegan and atheist discussions. I switched to the vegan diet in August 2017 after being a vegetarian for five years. It's kind of embarrassing that it took me that long since I knew it was the right thing to do when I decided to become a vegetarian. And, I went vegetarian after watching several documentaries (the "usual" ones).

One discussion I look forward to exploring here is the use of animals in scientific research. I am in the process changing my career and applying to graduate school for biochemistry (I'd like to study the interactions between insects and plants via semiochemicals) after working in behavioral health for the last five years (excluding the last year and half as I've been taking "'catch-up" classes to qualify for graduate school). So, this is an issue I had to face in my last internship, and will likely have to face again when I get into graduate school.
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brimstoneSalad
neither stone nor salad
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Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 9:20 am
Diet: Vegan

Re: Hola from Maine.

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Welcome! Congrats on going vegan, how has it been?

What are the applications of that?
Have you also considered working in in-vitro meat ("clean meat")?

As long as what you're studying is going to do some significant good for the world, I wouldn't sweat it too much if it's what you have to do to get to the end (although sometimes there are alternatives).
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meganisoptera
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Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 10:18 pm
Diet: Vegan

Re: Hola from Maine.

Post by meganisoptera »

Thanks and sorry for the late response! It's been going well.
What are the applications of that?
Have you also considered working in in-vitro meat ("clean meat")?
Eventually, I'd like to find a way to use semiochemicals to help control invasive plants and insects. I haven't thought about studying in-vitro meat, but I find it interesting. I've been wanting to do research on plants and insects for a while, but you never know what you'll actually end up researching.
As long as what you're studying is going to do some significant good for the world, I wouldn't sweat it too much if it's what you have to do to get to the end (although sometimes there are alternatives).
This is usually what I tell myself. And, the work of my past internship focused on learning about a disease affecting a specific population. So, while that's beneficial for those animals (and others with similar problems), my issue has been with euthanizing organisms for classroom use. It is better to learn directly with real examples, and there are ways to minimize negative effects on the environment and organism while collecting (e.g., collecting insects that don't overwinter right before the frost hits). But, I still struggle with it because it's for personal gain/use. And, sometimes ways to reduce suffering, etc. aren't always doable (fieldwork can be unpredictable).
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brimstoneSalad
neither stone nor salad
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Re: Hola from Maine.

Post by brimstoneSalad »

meganisoptera wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:47 pm But, I still struggle with it because it's for personal gain/use. And, sometimes ways to reduce suffering, etc. aren't always doable (fieldwork can be unpredictable).
You're just having to euthanize insects, or higher animals too?

meganisoptera wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:47 pmEventually, I'd like to find a way to use semiochemicals to help control invasive plants and insects.
Interesting, so the thought is reducing the use of pesticides, and preventing some of the death and pollution in agriculture?
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meganisoptera
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Re: Hola from Maine.

Post by meganisoptera »

You're just having to euthanize insects, or higher animals too?
In my internship we euthanized lobsters. In the classroom I directly euthanized insects this last semester (our final project was an insect collection of 50+ insects), but in previous classes I've dissected fish (they were sent to us already euthanized and prepared).
Interesting, so the thought is reducing the use of pesticides, and preventing some of the death and pollution in agriculture?
Yes, my potential supervisor is mostly focused on working to reduce the use of pesticides in agriculture. Industry needs this research anyway because many insects can easily adapt to pesticides since most have short generation times. While they typically just apply greater amounts of pesticides to combat this (or new combinations of pesticides), it's a slippery slope. So, it's likely that I'll end up working for industry on a similar project for a few years until I get my student loans paid down to a reasonable level. However, I'm more interested in researching ways to reduce (or eradicate, which is less possible) non-native invasive insect and plant populations in nature to preserve native species.
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