Category Archives: communication

Book reviews – Knowledge Translation edition

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I realised recently that the “everything I used to blog about is now on Twitter or Goodreads instead” trend of recent years means that I never got around to mentioning my new job! After ten years of grant writing and … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, book review, career, communication, cycling, Knowledge translation | 2 Comments

Ectopic scribblings

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It occurred to me this week that I’ve written various things in other venues that I’ve never linked to from this blog, and that it might be a good idea to compile some sort of list to try and mitigate … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, career, communication, personal, publishing, writing | 13 Comments

Questions?

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

A group of geeky colleagues assembled in the lobby after work last night and headed down to Vancouver’s Railway Club for Café Scientifique. This monthly science outreach event encompasses talks about everything from biodiversity to genomics to chemistry to particle … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, drunkenness, photos, science, Vancouver | 6 Comments

MOOCs: my other online compulsion

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve heard a lot about massive open online courses (MOOCs) over the last couple of years, but hadn’t quite got around to trying one until Eva mentioned on Facebook recently that she’d signed up for a communication science course, and … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, career, communication, education, personal, technology, why I love the internet | 7 Comments

Note to self: keep notes to self private

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Two recent conversations sparked by cryptic notes I scribbled on post-its: At home Mr E Man: “Cath, what’s an e-Pig?” Me: “What?” Mr E Man: “On this post-it, look. ‘e-Pig meeting’” Me: “OH! That’s my short-hand for epigenetics” Mr E … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, fun with language, science, silliness | 3 Comments

Quora: productive procrastination

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve recently started to spend some time on the question and answer site Quora, and I’m finding it be quite an effective science communication medium as well as excellent writing practice. I can’t quite remember how I first came to … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer research, career, communication, evolution, fun with language, grant wrangling, science, television, the media | 6 Comments

Science and society – Vancouver Change Camp 2013

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I have a new post up at Occam’s Corner on the Guardian website today, about how non-scientists can (try to) influence the course of scientific research. As I mentioned over there, the ideas in the post originated and evolved from … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, communication, conferences, education, environment, personal, politics, science, Vancouver | 7 Comments

In a twist

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

About ten years ago, a Dutch friend told me one of the most epic “lost in translation” stories I’ve ever heard. I re-told the story many times over the next couple of years, but hadn’t thought about it for a … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, English language, silliness, snow | 20 Comments

ehCloud: why Canada (and every other country) needs its own cloud computing tools

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I recently helped one of our scientists put together an application for an industry-partnered bioinformatics grant. I understand the company in question to be more or less universally recognised as the leader in its field and therefore the obvious partner … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, communication, genomics, grant wrangling, science, technology, the wonders of technology | 15 Comments

Early detection is key

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I know size isn’t everything, but this is still very clever (pencil for scale) Bravo, Canadian Cancer Society!

Posted in cancer research, communication, medicine, photos | 7 Comments