To most people, working as a scientist may be seen as a brain-draining and mentally-demanding job inside a laboratory. But scientists don’t always stay cooped inside highly-controlled research centers. Many do field work as well, and sometimes, things don’t happen exactly as it was planned.
Since last week, workers in the science industry have been sharing their craziest, and sometimes most embarrassing experience on the field on Twitter using the hashtag #fieldworkfail.
Scientists, as it turns out, don’t always have it all together. They can’t always figure things out, as in these contributions below.
This post from Carrie Cizauskas is one of the most popular contributions:
When your drugged zebra finds the ONE tree on the Namibian plains, which also has a neck-height fork #fieldworkfail pic.twitter.com/2iUx2uxGNB
— Carrie Cizauskas (@CarrieCizauskas) August 3, 2015
This failure caused thousands of dollars due to double tagging. Ouch.
Skillfully applied thousand dollar satellite tag to manta ray. The same manta ray I tagged yesterday #fieldworkfail pic.twitter.com/xHR1agskar — Dr. Alistair Dove (@AlistairDove) July 31, 2015
This also looked pretty painful.
Super-glued sequins to my fingers when trying to tag a hedgehog for mark-recapture #fieldworkfails pic.twitter.com/8GBhii3xA7
— Esther Dale (@estheraceae) August 4, 2015
Even a psychologist had her own #fieldworkfail.
#fieldworkfail for psychologists: Set up video to film self & child, knocked camera as I went by, got 45 min video of ceiling. — Dorothy Bishop (@deevybee) August 2, 2015
Ever wonder how those archaeologists move the artifacts they find? It’s not always easy, apparently.
#fieldworkfail Collect good haul of fossils, make vehicle so heavy it can't climb up a shallow slope.. pic.twitter.com/FapzqVnULT
— Darren Naish (@TetZoo) August 1, 2015
Sometimes, science doesn’t bring us anything interesting…
Went all the way to Antarctica to study scallop swimming, scallops attached to rocks and don't swim. Ever. #fieldworkfail — David Bailey (@davemarinebio) July 31, 2015
There are budget issues, too!
The first time I hiked to active lava flows in HI, I melted the soles of my boots. Then I went through water and they shrank. #fieldworkfail
— Jessica Ball (@Tuff_Cookie) July 30, 2015
And of course, work-related safety threats which a co-worker may find amusing, rather than concerning.
Finding out the ground was not as stable as appeared #Askja #Fieldworkfail camerawoman took pic instead of helping pic.twitter.com/k3n9Y5Unne — Alison Graettinger (@AlisonGraetting) July 30, 2015
“We all have loads of stories like this,” said Rosie Woodroffe, a researcher with the Zoological Society of London via The Atlantic. She also tweeted her contribution.
Set padded leghold trap near house for jackal. Catch lion. #fieldworkfail
— Rosie Woodroffe (@RosieWoodroffe) July 31, 2015
Woodroffe also shared the full story on what really happened when her team mistakenly trapped a lion instead of a jackal on the field in The Atlantic report.
Last June, female scientists initiated a #DistractinglySexy trend on Twitter by posting photos of themselves at work. This was in response to a sexist comment made by Nobel Prize winner Tim Hunt, as reported by HNGN.
