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.
Category Archives: Nostalgia
In which I see the light
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
Posted in Domestic bliss, Gardening, Nostalgia, Work/life balance
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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 the pandemic unfolds: a postcard from The Big One?
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
In which my mother stands behind me, and I mother in turn
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
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In which I realize I am part of a select sci/art group
I haven’t written here for a gazillion years – life is just too full-on. But I found out an amusing fact that I wanted to share. I’m not sure how it came up, but my Fiction Lab contact at the … Continue reading
In which I evolve (or possibly, devolve) as a scientist
Last Thursday was a normal day. After a few hours at my desk working on a grant application and a paper revision, I ran to the tube station, threw myself into a train down to the main campus, trudged a … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Careers, Nostalgia, The ageing process, The profession of science
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In which we wind down
I’ve been off work for a few days, but the incompatible clash of exhaustion and adrenalin which characterizes my life in academia has yet to ebb. These days it takes a full week to come down from the jaw-clenched crush … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Nostalgia
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In which I present my third lab lit novel, Cat Zero – out soon!
I’m pleased to announce the imminent publication of my third lab lit novel, Cat Zero, with Bitingduck Press, a science-friendly indie imprint out of Altadena, California. I have always wanted to write a story starring feline leukemia virus (FeLV), the … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Nostalgia, Work/life balance, Writing
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In which an era ends
She was decent and hard-working. She seldom complained, even when she got herself into a jam. She witnessed my awakening as a writer, from tentative, cliché-prone beginner to confident, stripped-down wordsmith capable of earning money and book deals. She saw … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Nostalgia, Work/life balance, Writing
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