Category Archives: Joshua

In which I come home

Posted on April 26, 2026 by Jennifer Rohn

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been caught in the flurry of the early-spring conference season, crisscrossing continents to take part in that most ritualistic of scientific pastimes: networking, giving talks, sliding through poster sessions, drinking bad coffee from steel … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Joshua, Nostalgia, Research, The ageing process, The profession of science, Work/life balance | Comments Off on In which I come home

In which I lurk on the edges of the playground

Posted on May 5, 2025 by Jennifer Rohn

I’ve just finished Richard Powers’ latest novel, Playground. This is not a book review (although I can highly recommend it), but more of a reflection on its aftertaste. Cryptic spoilers below. I’d consider the book ‘lab lit lite’ – there … Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Joshua, LabLit, Staring into the abyss, The ageing process, The profession of science | 1 Comment

In which we celebrate

Posted on December 24, 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 →

Posted in Domestic bliss, Joshua, Music, Nostalgia | 2 Comments

In which the wheel turns

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Jennifer Rohn

Time is a wheel, speeding me along in ever quicker circuits. As individual moments rush towards me, flare into immediacy and then blur past, most are soon forgotten save for those captured as digital images, or in some dashed lines … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Careers, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Joshua, Research, The ageing process | Comments Off on In which the wheel turns

In which we fall

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Jennifer Rohn

Fireworks crackle in the darkness: yesterday’s Bonfire Night stretching to fill the entire weekend. The torrential rains have given way to an almost full moon, glowing cold-silver in the eastern sky. November is always a positive month, with the cosiness … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Joshua, Research, Staring into the abyss, Students, Teaching, The profession of science, Work/life balance | 2 Comments

In which we near end-game

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Jennifer Rohn

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 | Comments Off on In which we near end-game

In which business is not quite as usual: the post-first-wave lab resumes

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Jennifer Rohn

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 | Comments Off on In which business is not quite as usual: the post-first-wave lab resumes

In which we venture out

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Jennifer Rohn

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 | Comments Off on In which we venture out

In which we home-school science: introducing #HomeSci, a social media experiment

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Jennifer Rohn

From this coming Monday in the United Kingdom, all schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that many parents will be working from home and looking after their children at the same time. And not just looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic bliss, Joshua, Research, Scientific method, Teaching | 1 Comment

In which my mother stands behind me, and I mother in turn

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Jennifer Rohn

The winter always belonged to my mother and me. We both loved the late autumn, when the last of the leaves plastered the pavements in a smear of color, and our breath fogged the morning air. November also usually brought … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic bliss, Joshua, Nostalgia, The ageing process, Work/life balance | 2 Comments