Author Archives: Athene Donald

Five Minutes Peace (and Preferably a Lot More)

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Athene Donald

Any parent will be familiar with the desire to find a quiet corner where the children can’t find them. Many readers will also know all about the antics of the Large Family, a family of elephants, in Jill Murphy’s tale … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Are You Authentic?

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Athene Donald

‘Be true to yourself’ is a well-worn phrase, almost a mantra. I  know I pepper talks (and writing) with the phrase. I think I know exactly what I mean and had assumed others did too. I do not mean that … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Culture | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Building a Humane Workplace

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Athene Donald

This is the unabridged/unedited version of an article that first appeared a couple of weeks ago in Optics and Photonics. Increasingly industry has woken up to the fact that diverse teams make better decisions and, by implication, make more money. … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Let’s Celebrate with UNESCO

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Athene Donald

Today, February 11th 2017, is the first UNESCO’s International Day of Women & Girls in Science. This is a day to remind ourselves not that ‘you’ve come a long way baby’ in the words of a now infamous advertisement campaign … Continue reading →

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Conspiracy or Cock-up?

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Athene Donald

Inclusivity seems something of a current buzzword. When Theresa May came to office she stated clearly in her first speech that ‘we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate few’. One of her immediate actions was to call for an … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Science Funding | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment