Alright for those of you who are feeling the
"is my research even important at all"-during-COVID19
feels... I see you and I know your work is important and great.

The thing is, we don't know what the next emergency will be & SO MUCH impacts how bad something gets.
#phdchat

Take this pandemic for instance:
- Air quality affects lung health (enviro, forestry, chem E)
- Food supply = health (ag science, micro, food sci)
- Underlying medical conditions and drug availability (biomed, chem, phys)
- Economic + emotional stability (econ, pysch, soc)

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The reason this is such a BIG DEAL is because so much changes during an emergency. We need info about everything to adapt!

It's one reason we don't direct all funding/thought to a single subject even when it is the biggest problem.

Thinking about this from my field of #PlantPath, plant disease continues to be a big issue. Will my work on a single protein from a single bacterium or plant help with the next crisis? Probably not. But because so many of us are working on diverse things, someone's work will!

We all need the reminder that we study so many things to understand, to help, to inspire, to excite, and to grow.

Right now, we can do our part by staying home.

But keep your spirits up because you never know when your work will be needed to help!
#PhDChat #YourWorkIsValid

This thread brought to you by my heart breaking every time I see/hear/think of people feeling like they have wasted time doing research that they enjoy and think is interesting.