Clik here to view.
In which we feel the estrogen love
Yesterday was a mixed day for women in science. Bright and early in the morning, I sat plugged into Skype waiting for the BBC World Service to interview me about subconscious bias against female...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which science writer wanna-bes are given a chance at fame and glory
Are you a early-career cell biologist (PhD student or post-doc) in the UK with a flair for the pen? Do you like to communicate about your science using everyday words and sentences structures other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which we make a mess of things
As a rule, when I’m trying to be creative, I have a hard time focusing if my workspace is not pristine and well-ordered. This holds true whether I’m working on a novel at my desk or performing an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which we endure
Baby, it’s cold outside. And inside too, as it happens. Over the past month or two, London has been in the grip of some of the coldest weather I ever remember having experienced here. For most London...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which I cling on
Recently I was kindly invited by the University of Southampton’s branch of the University and College Union to give a talk about the casualization of research jobs. ‘Casualization’ refers to the state...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which I dream of going viral
In a post I wrote over on the Guardian yesterday, I made the comparison between early-career researchers and unknown musicians: But how does a younger scientist with a shorter track record, whose...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which it all goes a bit Hitchcock
As I approach the door and reach for the knob, I find that my heart rate has accelerated. Behind me, one of our research nurses cowers a few paces back: she needs to get inside, but – quite...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which things flow naturally forward
I’ve been pondering the impermanence of things lately. Maybe it all started with the departure of a well-liked clinical researcher from our lab, an OB/GYN with a sense of the absurd who never failed to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which the data get an outing
For the past few weeks I’ve been traveling the globe at back-to-back conferences – hence the silence here. The conference universe has its own natural laws, and time flows differently as its strict...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which we reach the brink – chemists add their voices
As 26 June draws nigh, I’m starting to get a little nervous about the outcome of the UK Treasury’s decision on the 2015-2016 budget, which will decide how much public spending will be allocated to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which a picture’s worth a thousand words – in any language
Sometimes random consecutive events jibe in unexpectedly harmonious ways. When I returned to the lab from a well-earned holiday in Italy yesterday, the first thing I did was have a chat with one of our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which I find ‘it’
When I pictured my ‘adult’ life in academic science, it never looked anything like what it actually turned out to be. Trained as we are through the ranks, the neophyte scientist is constantly exposed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which we make a move
There’s a lot of change going on in my life right now, all at once. In addition to giving birth sometime in the next fortnight and needing to finish up a major piece of work-related writing before...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In which I step out
Six weeks into the big experiment, and I’m surfacing for a brief update. There is nothing I can say about new motherhood that has not been rehashed a million times, so on the topic of sleepless nights,...
View ArticleIn which UK science funding faces a sudden new peril
A spokesperson for Vladimir Putin recently mocked the United Kingdom for being a “small island” to which no one paid any heed. He is clearly not familiar with the UK’s impressive scientific reputation...
View ArticleIn which I narrowly avoid oblivion
Even at moments of the most extreme duress, it is difficult for me to stop thinking like a scientist. A few days after the birth of my son some twelve weeks ago, things were just starting to normalize...
View ArticleIn which I drop in
I’m now roughly two-thirds of the way through my maternity leave, and feeling surprisingly good. After nearly three months with my new son, I’m finally under control: he is starting to sleep well at...
View ArticleIn which nature imitates science
On the walk from my house to Russia Dock Woodlands, you have to pass by a particular hedgerow. Like all good hedgerows, it’s thick and impenetrable and rustling with unseen bird life. And it produces...
View ArticleIn which I have too much to lose
There’s an amusing adage I’ve been hearing about babies all my life: They make ‘em cute so you won’t kill ‘em. The F1, last week Evolutionarily, there may be something to that. If it was anything other...
View ArticleIn which self-help goes all Jurassic on your ass
I don’t even know where to begin. How is this analogy even remotely helpful to those of us currently living in the Cenozoic Era?
View Article
