Hi! My name is Spencer Scott, and I am a first year grad student in Astronomy at the University of Arizona where I work with Prof. Peter Behroozi on galaxy formation and evolution using the UniverseMachine. Welcome to my blog, which I plan on using to write up neat how-tos, fun facts I learn, writeups of small projects, or just for general personal use.

I’m starting this blog for a few reasons: first, to keep up practice with writing. I read a book on scientific writing a few years ago when I was starting my first paper which stated something along the lines of: “The job of a scientist is that of a professional writer.” Knowledge is useless if it is not effectively communicated, and practice makes perfect, so the more writing I practice, the better. Second, it helps to learn something when you have to teach (or at least, imagine you’re teaching in this case) a general audience. It helps to organize thoughts and really make sure you understand the material rather than just being able to regurgitate some facts. A blog also serves as a record of sorts when it comes time to show people what it is I do, exactly. Publishing my thoughts may be shouting into the void for now, but it’s also a natural extension of my resume/CV. And finally, it can serve as a nice reference for myself for when I do something like customize my bash prompt and need to remember exactly what I did and why I did it, if I write that up.

That’s all I have as far as introductions go for now. Thanks!