I've been teaching BIO325 Botany at Utica College since 2011, my first year on campus. Each year*, I've required that students conduct an original research project:  

Your project will need to build on the scientific literature and must in some way relate to the biology of plants. Working in teams of 3-4 students each, you will choose a project, design an experiment and write a proposal, collect and analyze data, and give an oral scientific presentation.

When I introduce students to the Botany research project in the first week of lab, I take care to tell them that the goal is a publishable product.  They must ground their study in the literature and design it so that it has well-developed controls, sufficient replication, etc. The goal is that if all goes basically as expected the project will be--at a minimum--worth presenting at a conference; the ultimate goal is, of course, publication.  

I also give students as much freedom as possible to choose their topic.  The only rule is that it must somehow relate to plant biology.  This freedom often leads to interdisciplinary projects that make bridges between plant biology and the areas of expertise of my faculty colleagues.  As a result, I get to explore many new areas of biology (like microbiology, molecular biology, animal behavior, endocrinology). It also demonstrates that I have very generous colleagues, because they are always willing to lend their expertise, equipment, and even their labs to Botany students who ask for help.  

Here is a list of all the projects that have occurred in Botany over the years (by title).  My first thought after assembling this list**:  I'm so proud of all these students and their hard work!  It is one of the most inspiring, creative, exciting, challenging, and fun parts of my job to mentor students as they design these interesting research projects when they are so new to studying botany, i.e., when they are budding (ha) botanists.  

Second thought:  I need to work on encouraging students to come up with more descriptive titles and get away from the standard "Effects of X on Y."  A task for 2020!

2019
[to be updated when final proposals are due in 1 week]
 
2017

• Effects of Pseudomonas uticensis and Rhizobium leguminosarum on the growth of Glycine max
• Effects of chlorine on growth of tomato plants
• Impact of biochar on final biomass of tomatoes intercropped with soybeans in nutrient poor soil
• Effects of erythritol on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and corn (Zea mays) plant growth and seed germination time [resulted in this publication!]
• Effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on Arabidopsis thaliana
• The effects of 17-beta estradiol on seed germination in an invasive ornamental grass, Miscanthus sinensis, versus a native counterpart, Panicum virgatum

2016

• The effects of atrazine and 17-beta estradiol on Zea mays growth
• Domestic applications of copper absorption by Helianthus annuus L.
• The effects of intercropping on yield, biomass, and height of scallions and lettuce compared to cultivating those crops individually
• Synergistic effects of linalool and linalyl acetate on behavioral and physiological responses in mice
• The effects of sound on the growth and biomass of Zea mays
• Comparison of anthocyanin concentrations in organically versus non-organically grown blackberries (Rubus fruticosus)

 
2015

• Effects of herbicides on bean seedling pole selection
• Effects of sound waves on the growth of Zea mays
• The effect of estrogen on the growth of Zea mays under three different soil conditions
• The effects of magnetic field strength on the change in height of Zea mays
• Effects of artificial wind and sand abrasion on transpiration rates in Phaseolus vulgaris

 
2014

• The effectiveness of companion planting Phaseolus vulgaris and Cucumis sativus
• The effects of temperature and germination time on pole selection in bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris)
• The allelopathic effect of cigarette butts on growth of Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass)
• Assessment of the effect of climate change-induced lake effect snowfall on tree ring width
• Impact of Manduca sexta herbivory and simulated herbivory on Solanum lycopersicum
  
• Effects of streptomycin on the growth of Zea mays
• Effects of intermittent light at night on germination in Arabidopsis thaliana

 
2013

• Allelopathic effects of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) soil on radish (Raphanus sativus) growth
• Effects of road salt on growth of Zea mays
• Effect of chlorpyrifos on soybean biomass
• The effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of the herbicide atrazine on the growth of duckweed (Lemna minor)
• Effect of 17-beta estradiol on the growth of Lemna minor, a common aquatic plant
• The effect of vibratory stimuli on Raphanus sativus during seed germination

 
2012

• The effects of light on chloroplast development in Glycine max
• Road salt on biomass of radishes
• Effects of sandy, peat, and top soil types on the production of nepetalactone in catnip (Nepeta cataria)
• Effect of fertilization on radish growth

 
2011

• Effects of cinnamon and cedarwood essential oils and caffeine on Candida albicans
• Olfactory testing for the photochemical degradation of isohumulones in canned pilsner beer
• Effect of gentamicin and plant extracts on growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• The influence of Carassius auratus waste water on the biomass of Lemna valdiviana
• The effect of UV light on Zea mays
• Effects of caffeine on shoot and root growth in radish plants (Raphanus sativus)
• The effect of soil salinity on growth of three species in the family Fabaceae:  Alaska pea, red kidney bean, and lima bean
• Combined effects of mycorrhizal fungi and Rhizobium bacteria on the growth of soybean plants

*2018 is missing because I was on sabbatical that semester
**for 2011-2018, I assembled the list by looking up proposal titles in my turnitin.com classrooms.  I hope I didn't miss any groups by doing it this way, but a few years are looking suspiciously sparse.

What do I miss most about grad school?  My freedom of time.  
Having that precious, wonderful ability to structure my own time allowed me to work when I felt creative or productive, and to not work when I felt blah.  I'm a hardworking, self-motivated, semi-introverted type.  I am usually most productive when working  from home in my pajamas, coffee or tea nearby.  So being able to figure out when *I* want to tackle each item on my to-do list has always been a beautiful luxury, not a productivity-problem-in-the-making.  Even after the birth of my first child, when I was writing my dissertation from home, I still enjoyed freedom of time when he was taking his blessed 3 naps per day.

So what do I love best about my first sabbatical? You guessed it: my freedom of time.
It is soooooooooooo wonderful.  I am grateful every day that I'm able to use my energy in the way that is appropriate for that day.  When I'm in the mood to design experiments, that's what I do.  When I'm in the mood to plan my honeybee operations, I do it.  When I'm in the mood to fold laundry, or stack wood, or plant some garden seedlings, those things end up on my to-do list for the day.  

This morning, I spent 3 hours designing a field experiment that will start next month, so this blog post is my reward for that productivity.  After this post, I will eat lunch and then...work on the next thing that I feel like doing.

I'll admit that some days on sabbatical, I've found myself at loose ends. That restless, slightly grumpy and at odds feeling usually happens when I'm in-between projects or waiting for a response from a colleague, collaborator, or journal.  At their best, those days end up being used for future planning, creative brainstorming, or some extra exercise or outdoor time. At their worst, those days plod by as I waste time on social media, recognize that I would have been better off meditating or exercising or doing ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT I DID, and then go to bed early in disgust.  

Cow time and flow time*
It seems to me that there are two major purposes to sabbatical leave.
1) to leave behind the burnout that happens after years of giving your academic job your very best;  
2) to achieve as many "flow" days as possible.  

Regarding 1, the burnout-inducing parts of academic jobs are probably different for everyone (e.g., I'm guessing extroverted morning people love large meetings at 8:00 AM?**) but most academics work a lot, whether by choice or not.  In my case, I have often taught an extra course each semester for the good of my department/students.  When I'm teaching 5 courses (15 contact hours, plus many hours of prep and grading time) and also participating in 6++ hours per week of meetings and service activities, the only way to get research accomplished is to work late nights and weekends.  But the problem with squeezing research in around the edges like that are two-fold: you get burned out because you have subpar work-life balance, and you never have time to ruminate.  Research requires rumination; you need time to be a cow, really mulling over your research goals and questions in a peaceful, contemplative manner.  But when I'm not on sabbatical leave, I'm much more like a hamster on a hamster wheel because I'm trying to squeeze in research around my enjoyable and meaningful--but quite intensive--teaching and service responsibilities.  Running on a hamster wheel doesn't leave much time for rumination.

So the first purpose of sabbatical is to channel your inner cow and tamp down your inner hamster.*** 
Cow > hamster.

It's interesting to see that the famous author Barbara Kingsolver in her Civil Disobedience at Breakfast also used the phrase "Cow Time."  In her essay, it was used to describe a Terrible Two version of a Senate filibuster, in which a toddler attempts to control the speed at which she travels to necessary but rather boring appointments.  My cow time instead refers to a state of mind.  It can be achieved at very high speeds on the highway*** and doesn't necessarily mean that you'll arrive late to your appointments.  But the two concepts are similar in that toddlers are champions at rumination of all kinds.  I can remember watching my kids contemplate the movement of their feet as they walked, in a Terrible Two version of a walking meditation.  What I'm advocating for here is achieving a Terrible Two version of the scientific method, i.e., cow time.

The second major purpose of sabbatical leave:  flow.  I have always recognized and appreciated what is now called "flow" in the pop psychology articles that I've read on social media.  Flow refers to working actively, without distractions, and with such concentration that you aren't aware of yourself or time or whether or not you remembered to pay the electrical bill this month.  It's like being in the research zone.  A fruitful and satisfying sabbatical probably has a lot of days of flow.  For me, flow time has happened regularly on my sabbatical, usually while I sit in my favorite armchair by the fire, working on research while the rest of my family is at work/school.  When I'm not on sabbatical leave, flow time seems to happen at the kitchen table during the months of May and June, when the kids are still in school but I'm mostly finished with my teaching/service responsibilities for the academic year and can devote myself fully to research.

Overly pampered whining academics
^^Is that what you're thinking?  Oh dear.  If so, I'm surprised that you read this far--you must really feel like getting mad today. :O

But no, it seems like the public narrative is cranky about professors and colleges lately.  And sabbatical leaves probably seem (to some people) like one of the most outrageously pampering of all the ridiculously pampering things that whiny faculty get to experience, amirite?  I could respond by discussing in depth my typical daily/weekly workload during the semester, even given my strong time-efficiency skills.  I could point out that I often don't have time to eat lunch or use the bathroom during the work day and certainly can't make it to doctors' appointments during the semester.  But really that's really beside the point because many jobs have similar characteristics and I've chosen this job and love it, so why whine about it?  

So, here is my honest response: yes, I am experiencing the luxury of freedom of time for 16 weeks and I am extremely grateful for it.  What I'm doing with it is refreshing myself so that I will come back to my normal job in the fall with strength, energy, excitement, and creative new ideas--things that benefit my students, my college, and my community. I'm also producing new scientific knowledge in several different fields of study.  And behind the scenes, I'm volunteering in my kid's classroom and elsewhere in the local and even national community (h/t to Planting Science!).  So my goal is that this freedom of time is not just used to benefit myself but also to benefit many others, both directly and indirectly.  We'll see if I succeed in that goal or not.

*I just google-searched "cow time" and I'm amused to see that there is a dairy cow-related educational website called Cow Time that actually has a section called Go With the Flow.  (Just trying to cite all web sources related to this essay, in the interests of full disclosure.)  
**Note: this essay on meetings is one of my favorites.  So great! 
***Is it possible to achieve cow time when you aren't on sabbatical leave?  Yes!  For me, cow time is best achieved while walking or driving somewhere, and is one reason I have grown to semi-like/tolerate my commute to work.     

I'm a professor at a small, private college located in Utica, a small city in central/upstate New York state.  I teach a lot of courses each semester (4 - 5 courses, or 12 - 15 contact hours per week), which doesn't leave much time for research.  But I love research, so I work hard to make time in my schedule for it.  

To be frank, I'm not so sure about starting this blog, because perhaps it will take time away from getting my research done.  But there have been a lot of calls recently for scientists to improve our PR skills.  Although I have mixed feelings about these calls to action (maybe that's a subject for another blog post), I do think that scientists need to do more outreach.  

Here is my current vision for how to use this blog:
1) I won't worry about making my writing grammatically flawless.  If you want edited perfection, please just go away now.  There are sure to be dangling participles and misplaced modifiers ahead!  I'm sorry, I really am.  I feel your pain.  I know how annoying it is to see YET MORE grammatical errors and typos, in a world that is full of them!  But I'm not quite sorry enough that I'm willing to spend hours editing blog posts when I could be teaching, researching, spending time with family, beekeeping, gardening, exercising, etc....

2) I may or may not cite every. single. thing. as I write.  I am scrupulously careful about citing my sources when I write for the scientific literature.  It makes the writing process very slow and laborious, but it is essential, ethical, 100% not optional, required, MUST-DO!--I believe in citing very strongly.  However, I feel that writing for a blog should be light and quick, and at least a little bit fun for me.

3) I might not put a lot of pretty pictures in the middle of my text.  I often seek out cooking recipes on blogs, and the recipe writers like to put many well-lit, attractive images of: 
--the ingredients,
--the mixing of the ingredients (at all stages),
--and the final product from multiple angles.  
These images seem to be for aesthetic purposes only, not to improve understanding.  So I find all the incessant pictures irritating rather than illuminating.  {Grumpy professor eyebrows DOWN.}  They will also bog down the writing process (see "light and quick," above).

4) I will share at least one "file drawer" study.  File drawer studies refer to unpublished research, particularly studies with null results, i.e., no statistical sign of a treatment effect.  Probably all scientists have a few of these studies sitting around  for various reasons.  I try to not have file drawer studies--I will explain why later--but I do have one right now, and have for a few years.  This frustrates me.  (Side note:  for some reason I remembered these studies being called "file cabinet studies."  Not sure how I expanded from one drawer to the entire file cabinet.)

5) I'll attempt to do a press release-type summary of two of my studies that will be published later this year.  Both of these studies were done with my much-valued collaborators.  I LOVE my collaborators (and actually, that might be another good topic for a blog post).

6) I might talk about some honeybee research as I come across it.  Or discuss some aspects of my beekeeping operation, Irish Ridge Honey.

7) ​I might talk a bit about what it's like to work as a professor in higher education.  

8) I will almost always put two spaces after every period, and will unfailingly make use of the Oxford comma.

And now, I see that I have let the fire go out while I wrote this!  Time to go for now.