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.
Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn
In which the small fish contemplates the bigger pond
The wandering path of my unconventional scientific life is about to shift yet again. It’s with mixed feelings that I report another lab move – same Division, another new campus. The retro digs in Bloomsbury, with its polished hardwood trimmings, … Continue reading
In which the forest emerges
The clocks have gone forward, the crocuses wither, the tulips unfurl. The students have dispersed for Easter, full of dread about the immunology exam that will pounce on their return. Budding life forms I put one grant application to bed … Continue reading
Posted in Careers, Gardening, Scientific thinking, Staring into the abyss, Students, Teaching, The profession of science
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In which Charles Fernyhough comes to Fiction Lab
One of the great things about being the LabLit Guru™ is that I am constantly receiving interesting books to look over. A stack of lab lit, yesterday – plus an intriguing hanger-on there at the bottom One of the not-so-great … Continue reading
In which life imitates science – number 264
A scientist is never off-duty, even in a fabulous Michelin-starred restaurant on Charlotte Street. I think pretty much anyone with a cell biology background would have seen what I saw in this rhubarb confection: But alas, my immediate dining companions … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific thinking, Silliness
4 Comments
In which the postdoc sell-by date continues to shrivel: The MRC comes to its senses
How do you judge the worth of a researcher? In particular, can you tell how excellent she is by how quickly she gets from point A to point B in her career? The funding bodies used to think speed was … Continue reading
In which I invite them in
Although engaging with the public about science is famously not about – heaven forbid – ‘teaching’ it, the two endeavors do share some common strategies. I’ve been organizing and executing a lot of undergraduate educational sessions these past few terms, … Continue reading
Posted in Science talking, Scientific thinking, Silliness, Students, Teaching
14 Comments
In which we make a splash: Fiction Lab in the papers
A perplexing start this morning: a text from the lovely Sarah Main, director of CaSE, congratulating me on a mention in London’s Metro newspaper and wishing me “luck on Monday”. Cue breaking out into a cold sweat as, seeing nothing … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Stereotypes
3 Comments
In which a tale of antibiotics takes form
It’s a grey afternoon outside the study window. This morning a thick fog erased the usual twinkling lights of Tilbury Docks along the estuary, with seagoing vessels blowing their horns in long, sonorous warnings. A fitting soundtrack, as tomorrow spells … Continue reading
Posted in Science talking, Staring into the abyss
3 Comments
In which we despair: show and tell is alive and well
I have a theory about best-selling authors. Once they have finally made their breakthroughs, they tend to get lazy. I have noticed that subsequent novels often become longer – just eyeball your collection of Harry Potters on the bookshelf and … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Writing
9 Comments
In which I enjoy a Northern sojourn
I spend a lot of my time these days up at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, helping out with undergraduate teaching. It’s marked a new phase of traipsing up and down on the Northern Line to my lab on … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Silliness, Teaching
2 Comments
