Phillips, Carleton J. 2005-04-06
Carl Phillips describes his career and field work in biology, and his duties and responsibilities as an advisor for the U.S. Department of State.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Carleton J. Phillips
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: April 06, 2005
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Interviewer: David Marshall
Length: 02:45:43
Abstract
Outlook of biologists; Explains why he choose to study mammals; Mixed emotions about killing mammals; Dealing with individuals who oppose it; View on humans as primates; His views on magical and special status; Differing views of other mammologists; Dental research of small mammals; Lab work at research complex of Michigan State University; Worked for Harrison Hunt; The research that he pursued; Account of work at the lab; The euthanizing process; Life-threatening incident; The process of examining rats; His work on salivary glands of bats; Results of his work; Differences in histology; Work on comparative cell structure; Impact of his work; Interest shown by pharmacologists; Article published in natural history magazines; Reasons he choose to collect blood and tissue; Mammalogy linked to biology; The need to link museums and zoology departments; Emphasis on traditional uses of specimens; Rollin Baker supported his ideas; Preservation techniques; Rollin Baker’s approach; Work association with University of New Mexico (UNM); Mammalogists at UNM; Issues with field work; New laws; Changes due to increase in Mexican mammologists; Attempts at avoiding getting permits; Paper on bat species not published; Anecdotes of rural Mexico; Dangers and safety measures; Encounter with Mexican patrol; Held at gun point; Anecdotes of Rural Mexico (continued); About Mexican soldiers; Incident at Guerrero, Mexico; Managing field and lab work; Strategies adopted; Specimens catalogued by others; Managing field work and publishing; Role of personality; Benefits; Career in academia; Studies on long duration space flights; Reasons he pursued it; Aversion towards museum jobs; Offer for job in the government; Worked at Grumman Aerospace Corporation; Project he worked on; PX-15 project, Drift mission; Objectives of the project; Funded by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration); Talks on psychological effects; Description of the job of his colleague, Phil Williams; Thinking through Aerial combat strategies; Computer models based on it; Outdoor interests; Dog sled racing; Studied physiological characteristics of dogs; Points his paper explained; Knowledge required for boat sailing; Techniques adopted; Proliferation threat reduction; Objectives and workings; Reasons he was approached; The work he was assigned; Experience during the first day of the job; Proliferation in Iraq; Found out about the research done by Iraqi scientists; His findings and conclusions; Involvement of various U.S. government agencies; Post war Iraqi responsibilities; Department of Defense vs. Department of State; About ministry of science and technology; Issues with obtaining country clearance; Experiences at Iraq; About the Department of Defense representative; Precautionary measures; Incident involving his Iraqi ‘fixer’; Recollections of his time at Iraq; Duties of Iraq survey group; Duties of Department of State group at Iraq; Future projects.
Access Information
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Transcript: No transcript available
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