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 academic dreams come true: a belated professorship
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
In which summers shrink
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
Posted in Academia, Careers, Nostalgia, Research, Students, Teaching, The ageing process, The profession of science
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In which normal life flickers just ’round the corner
Today on a neighbourhood walk with my son, blustery and cold with a few flecks of rain, we passed a window that still had a faded child-drawn rainbow and the advice to “stay safe”. It struck me as rather quaint, … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Epidemics, Research, The profession of science, Work/life balance
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In which we near end-game
January and February are always my least favorite months, but I can’t remember a winter when I longed for spring as desperately as this one. It’s the pandemic, of course, which has sucked the world dry of what little joy … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Epidemics, Gardening, Joshua, Work/life balance
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In which life imitates art, and an epidemic leaps off the page
In mid-November, a journalist from BBC Southeast contacted me about a perplexing rise in COVID-positive cases in the nearby borough of Swale, a mainly rural part of Kent known for its fruit orchards, beer hops and vast areas of marshland … Continue reading
Posted in Epidemics, LabLit, science funding, The profession of science, Writing
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In which winter sets in
Although winter has not yet formally begun, this is the time of year when the darkness stretches ahead into infinity. In the face of this, the prospect of brighter days, of snowdrops and crocuses pushing up from the bare earth, … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Epidemics, Gardening
7 Comments
In which we face the rain
How quickly strangeness becomes familiarity. As autumn hunkers down, and the COVID infection rates continue to rise (nearly 13,000 cases reported yesterday in the UK), I see things around me that I never could have imagined before 2020. A trip … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Gardening, Research, Scientific thinking, The profession of science, Work/life balance
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In which Frank leaves the building
Last night I lost a friend. I couldn’t think of a more graceful way to start this post, as I am still a little bit in shock. But last night, I lost a friend. Back in about 2006, I found … Continue reading
In which business is not quite as usual: the post-first-wave lab resumes
Business as usual is the sort of mentality that’s probably only certain in retrospect. At the moment, the jury is still very much out. My lab reopened its doors a few weeks ago. This is, of course, a wonderful thing. … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Careers, Domestic bliss, Epidemics, Gardening, Joshua, Staring into the abyss, The profession of science, Work/life balance
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In which we venture out
We are poised on the edge. As the world teeters between spring and summer, cloaked in lush green and bursting into flower, there is a sense that our pandemic lockdown is coming to an end. Not all at once, of … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Joshua, Teaching, Work/life balance
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