Category Archives: Nostalgia

In which I dream

Posted on 17 March 2024 by Jennifer Rohn

Last night I dreamt I was pipetting. It was a beautiful Gilson p200, the classic model of my formative years. The precision instrument felt reassuringly heavy and solid in my right hand. Despite its age, the movements were smooth and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which we celebrate

Posted on 24 December 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

Christmas, I argue, is a space-time continuum where the past and present layer up like sediments on the Jurassic coast. At the appointed time, old traditions are unearthed out of storage to mingle with those spontaneously invented as you go … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which I age backwards

Posted on 21 November 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

I don’t know if it’s just me, but for the last few years, I’ve forgotten how old I am. Because I spend so much of the year pessimistically rounding up, I’m rendered unsure by the present state of affairs. When … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which we land

Posted on 30 July 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

Our migration is complete: my lab now has a new home. And for me, a new office space. Numerous studies have scrutinised the effect of environment on work productivity. Anecdotally, I know that my own focus and output are greatly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which I capture the present, but forget why

Posted on 19 March 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

I have always been a compulsive chronicler, ever since I was a small child starting off my first journal. I still write an entry nearly every day, taking a few months to fill in all the pages with my increasingly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which I cherish useless facts

Posted on 19 September 2022 by Jennifer Rohn

I’ve just had my first letter to the editor published in the Times (of London, that is, not of New York). It wasn’t an urgent missive about science policy or politics or the state of the world or the Queen’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which I see the light

Posted on 14 February 2022 by Jennifer Rohn

I’m happy, and I don’t know why. Usually I dread this time of year, the period between demobbing the Christmas tree and the daffodil-studded benevolence of mid-March. It stretches on endlessly, the dreary coldness, the frosts interspersed with rain that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which academic dreams come true: a belated professorship

Posted on 30 July 2021 by Jennifer Rohn

I have wanted to be a scientist since before I can remember. I did all the right things: I studied hard, finished my homework, raised my hand in class, failed to hide the fact that I loved learning, even though … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which summers shrink

Posted on 27 June 2021 by Jennifer Rohn

Academics talk nostalgically about rosy-tinted times of yore when summers meant a lull in lecturing duties. The months would unfold before you, a vast landscape of research possibilities. It was a time to write papers, craft grants, catch up with … Continue reading →

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In which the pandemic unfolds: a postcard from The Big One?

Posted on 15 March 2020 by Jennifer Rohn

Epidemics are works in progress. At any given moment in time, you can’t know how they will end. They are a curve on a graph of ultimately unknown trajectory; when you are just a dot on a growing curve, you … Continue reading →

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