Philippines!

Big Move! Big news! I’m off to another country again! I’m moving to Dauin/Dumaguete on the Philippine island of Negros, to the lovely Amontillado Resort. I’ll be taking care of the guests and teaching scuba courses. Dauin is one of the best diving locations I have been to, and I have been to many. Nearby Apo island has one of the healthiest and most diverse coral reefs I have seen. I found working in scuba tourism a positive experience during the last few years when I did it casually, it often really is like going for a dive with old and new friends. I also think that eco-tourism is a force for the good, since it creates economic chances for the local population and an incentive for them to protect the environment.

University employment just isn’t a good deal anymore. I found that between the pressure to obtain external funding and an absurdly overblown bureaucracy, less and less time and energy were left for actual science. Add to that an absence of job security and very mediocre pay, and it was the highest time to leave. Reasoning about biology is not dependent on university employment, and it will be much more enjoyable to do that on a tropical island outside of the corrupt system of modern academia. I will have a new scientific affiliation, my mate Jay’s independent research institute Neurolinx. Good times!

See you in the Philippines, where it is more fun!