About Jenny
By day: cell biologist at UCL. By night: novelist, broadcaster, science writer, sci-lit-art pundit, blogger and Editor of LabLit.com. I blog about my life in science, not the facts and figures.
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- rpg on In which we struggle: mental health in higher education
- Jennifer Rohn on In which no scientist is an island – but that’s what we signed up for
- Henry Gee on In which no scientist is an island – but that’s what we signed up for
- Brigitte on In which sadness serves a purpose
- rpg on In which we tell a story: on metaphors in science and life
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Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn
In which I am cloistered
I’ve had to do a lot of working from home these past two weeks, as our Athena SWAN submission reaches its final denouement. (Let’s pause to appreciate the image of “Athena SWAN” as a reassuringly corpulent opera singer with Viking … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, The profession of science
1 Comment
In which green means go
It’s often been said that witnessing your child grow up is akin to scientific experiment – an intense longitudinal observational study with no control group. As a fan of language in all of its nuances, it’s been fascinating watching Joshua … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Scientific thinking, Work/life balance
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In which the calm cowers before the storm
Can you hear it? Yes, that’s the sound of a distinct lack of undergraduates knocking around the place. Even the summer lab students have departed, off for a few weeks of R&R or debauchery before the grind kicks back in … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Students, Teaching, The profession of science
Comments Off on In which the calm cowers before the storm
In which I wave in your general direction
Has it really been a few months since my last post? Holidays are only partially to blame: that covers two weeks. Maybe three, if you count the frazzled week finishing up in the lab beforehand, or the frazzled week on … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Research, The profession of science, Women in science, Work/life balance
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In which I snap
I’m not a neat freak or anything, at home or in the lab, but sometimes, enough is enough. Behold the new arrangement of our lab’s stash of fluorochrome-conjugated secondary antibodies. Is it not a thing of beauty? (A moment of … Continue reading
Posted in Research, Scientific thinking, Silliness
3 Comments
In which the old girl rides again
As you can see, my young apprentice, your experiments have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational second-hand confocal microscope! My love-affair with second-hand lab equipment continues unabated. Some time ago, our department scored a good … Continue reading
Posted in Kit, Research, The profession of science
7 Comments
In which work-life balance wobbles
As with most academics, evenings and weekends often provide the extra time I need to stay on top of my workload. I’d rather sacrifice some family time than get behind – because once you’re behind, the anxiety sets in, making … Continue reading
In which I feel a bit too old for this game sometimes
Age is a slippery thing. Most days I still feel like that tentative new PhD student, pulling 80-hour weeks at the University of Washington Health Sciences Center in Seattle. By the red glow of the safelight, I’d feed dusky rectangles … Continue reading
In which fiction infiltrates science
Two years ago I was honored to have been one of the recipients of the Suffrage Science award. Launched in 2011 by the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, this program involves heirloom jewelry, originally designed by art students at … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, The profession of science, Women in science, Writing
2 Comments
In which we are unlucky: on lab superstitions
I was thinking the other day that if academia were a mental illness, it would be bipolar. One day it treats me well: a student shows me an experiment that shows great promise. I have a spirited chat with a … Continue reading
