As a biology major, I’ve written surprisingly few scientific papers. Most science classes are exam-based, which leaves little room for writing assignments. With the scientific writing I’ve done, I’ve realized that looking at examples of other articles and journals is very helpful. Next year I am taking a course called Writing in Biology, which I’m hoping will give me more experience with different kinds of scientific reading and writing.
So far, I’ve written two major scientific essays. My first essay, Exploring the Interactions of Rye, Tomato, and Alfalfa Plants, was written my freshman year for Biology 173 (Introduction to Biology Lab). Throughout the course we grew rye, tomato, and alfalfa plants under various conditions, and at the end of the term we wrote a paper analyzing the growth of these different plants. This essay involved a good mixture of research and statistics, so I had to learn some of those skills as well.
My second scientific essay was written at the end of my junior year for EEB 390 (Evolution). For this term paper, I had to choose an evolution-related topic and write a scientific review of the topic’s current research. I wrote Evaluating Pheromone Evolution Through the Study of Bark Beetles, which as the title suggests, examines pheromone evolution (specifically that of bark beetles). I narrowed my focus to bark beetles, as they seem to dominate the field of pheromone evolution research.