Author Archives: Athene Donald

Pandemic Staycationing

As far as I’m concerned, this is not a year for travelling for a holiday. Indeed, given some of the recent events, there hasn’t even been time to take any sort of extended break. However, we have been taking days … Continue reading

Posted in Cambridge life, dreams, jackdaws, novels, ornithology | Comments Off on Pandemic Staycationing

Pandemic Staycationing

As far as I’m concerned, this is not a year for travelling for a holiday. Indeed, given some of the recent events, there hasn’t even been time to take any sort of extended break. However, we have been taking days … Continue reading

Posted in Cambridge life, dreams, jackdaws, novels, ornithology | Comments Off on Pandemic Staycationing

Pandemic Staycationing

As far as I’m concerned, this is not a year for travelling for a holiday. Indeed, given some of the recent events, there hasn’t even been time to take any sort of extended break. However, we have been taking days … Continue reading

Posted in Cambridge life, dreams, jackdaws, novels, ornithology | Comments Off on Pandemic Staycationing

Reflections on a Mad Week in Higher Education

Readers from the UK can hardly fail to have noticed the confusion across the HE sector caused by last week’s A level ‘results’.  I recall how many people had been voicing fears during the past months that the disadvantaged would … Continue reading

Posted in #honourtheoffer, A levels, education, widening participaation | Comments Off on Reflections on a Mad Week in Higher Education

Active Silencing

Aggressive. That’s such a useful put-down. As in “I think there were several very vocal, dare I say aggressive residents that, in my opinion, regardless of what work was being carried out or not, they still would have had reason … Continue reading

Posted in angry black woman, Emma Chapman, Equality, Reni Eddo-Lodge, troublemaker, Women in science | Comments Off on Active Silencing

Remembering Rosalind Franklin

By Spudgun67 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link Everyone knows a little something about Rosalind Franklin, whose hundredth birthday it would be today. Some may have little sense of her beyond the belief that she was cheated out of … Continue reading

Posted in DNA, francis crick, History of Science, Jim Watson, Women in science | Comments Off on Remembering Rosalind Franklin

Uncertain Times

We live currently in a world of great and sometimes terrifying strangeness, where the rules and customs by which we have lived for so long have been turned upside down. Some people may be focussing on whether they need to … Continue reading

Posted in Clarissa Farr, Communicating Science, COVID-19, education, politicians | Comments Off on Uncertain Times

Is Bigger Always Better?

Social distancing may have been reduced to 1(+)m – whatever that may mean – but that is still going to impose significant constraints on what a bench scientist can do. Fume cupboards in a line – how many of them … Continue reading

Posted in bullying, careers, group size, pandemic, Science Culture, UKRI | Comments Off on Is Bigger Always Better?

Echoes Down the Years of Education in a Pandemic

Recently, the Prime Minister announced an ‘apprentice guarantee’ saying ‘I think it’s going to be vital that we guarantee apprenticeships’.  Sounds good. How should that be translated into practice? Certainly, at the moment apprentices are having a tough time of … Continue reading

Posted in cultural capital, disadvantage, education, Hashi Mohamed, pandemic | Comments Off on Echoes Down the Years of Education in a Pandemic

Where’s Your Place in the World?

I don’t suppose there are many people in the country who currently feel grounded, confident they know how their lives will unfold and happy with that trajectory. At the moment, uncertainty seems the name of the game, responsibilities multiply and … Continue reading

Posted in Clarissa Farr, pandemic, Science Culture, social distancing | Comments Off on Where’s Your Place in the World?