Author Archives: Athene Donald

To Blog or Not to Blog

The challenge of using social media as a way to overcome the frequent invisibility of women in science was at the heart of the recent #SoLo12 Women In Science session organised by Seirian Sumner and Nathalie Pettorelli (see the Storify … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Good Thinking Society Science Blog Prize, social media, SoLo12, Women in science | Comments Off on To Blog or Not to Blog

To Begin at the Beginning

It seems obvious: any piece of writing should have a beginning, a middle and an end. But how often have I heard the lack of structure moaned about by those folk who have to read some prose, in particular supervisors … Continue reading

Posted in Communicating Science, Girton College, PhD, prose, Research, Thesis | Comments Off on To Begin at the Beginning

From Invisibility to Power

What can be done to render women in science less invisible? A few women may stand out from the crowd, both historically and at the present time, but the list of women scientists most people – by which I mean … Continue reading

Posted in nature, Royal Society, Science Culture, SpotOn London, Woman's Hour, Women in science | Comments Off on From Invisibility to Power

Risk, Education and Politicians

As usual I’m a trifle behindhand in my reading, so only now am I catching up with the Darwin Lectures  on Risk, a series of lectures given in 2010 and now available as a book or on your Kindle). This … Continue reading

Posted in British Academy, Communicating Science, David Spiegelhalter, education, Mathematics, quantitative skills, risk, statistics | Comments Off on Risk, Education and Politicians

What You Don’t See at Conferences

Academics get to go to conferences in exotic places, there is no doubt about that. But that is not the same thing as getting to see the exotic places in which the conferences are held. In my experience, too often … Continue reading

Posted in childcare, conferences, Science Culture, travel | Comments Off on What You Don’t See at Conferences

Hypothesising about Interdisciplinarity

How often have I heard it said that ‘the policies are good but the implementation is shaky’?  I could make that comment about many of the issues around women in science, where the best-intentioned policies are defeated by negativity, implicit … Continue reading

Posted in Biological Physics, Doug Kell, grant proposal, hypotheses, Interdisciplinary Science, referees, Research Council | Comments Off on Hypothesising about Interdisciplinarity

The Self-Promotion Stakes

My university has recently run a consultation exercise for women from different parts of the university and across the different grades (with the exception of researchers, for whom a separate event will be held later).  Various key messages have come … Continue reading

Posted in CV, Equality, mentoring, promotion, Women in science | Comments Off on The Self-Promotion Stakes

Broadening Horizons

Beyond the straight and narrow of their disciplines, there is far more that should form part of what every PhD student is exposed to during their doctoral (and indeed post-doctoral) years. I was reminded of this fact when I attended … Continue reading

Posted in education, energy efficiency, Interdisciplinary Science, Jevons Paradox, Winton programme for Sustainability | Comments Off on Broadening Horizons