Casual Science Returns
I'm putting words on the page, a few keystrokes at a time.
Latest
Academic freedom for all
The cover story in the latest issue of C&EN is about threats to academic tenure. As someone who spent six years on the tenure track and saw the possibility of tenure snatched away from my colleagues, I have thoughts. When discussing tenure, non-academics tend to think that tenure
On Inheritance
My grandmother passed away this spring, aged 93. Yesterday my father brought the last of the furniture I have inherited from her and my grandfather. She was a cheerful, outgoing woman who had a habit of treating friends like family, and distant relatives like immediate relations. She was a keeper
What am I even doing
This weekend I'm in the in-between space of classes ending and finals week beginning. My classes will meet one more time to finish existing work and share projects, but there's no new stuff to do. No more slides to prepare, copies to make, or work to
To Do
I cannot brain right now. There’s a buzz in my head like a fluorescent bulb in an empty office. A quiet, persistent humming that at first I didn’t notice, but once noticed I cannot stop noticing, as if its sound is magnified by my attention. I have things
Cutting off other futures
I'm having trouble not caring. I was fired1 in March. I've witnessed a series of poor decisions that have crushed staff and faculty morale and negatively impacted students. I've seen in-fighting over the scraps the administration/Board dangles over our heads. And every time
Reflections on Ungrading in Small Chemistry Classes
I decided it's past time for me to move my ungrading thoughts from my paper scribbles to the digital space.
Hands-on while remote
Like many in academia this fall, I've been teaching remotely. Last week I got particularly frustrated trying to explain molecular geometry and its influence on molecular polarity. For years this part of the semester has been the time when I bring in the model kits (students love model
Professor Damocles
My university administration is planning to cut faculty next year. We don't know who or even how many, but I know my name is on that list somewhere. I'm probably not at the top, but I'm also not at the bottom. I've
Name changes should be easy
I renewed my ACS membership today, and, as I have done every year for several years in a row, I tried to update my title through the ACS Membership My Account page. No luck. Only a link to contact customer service. In previous years I have decided that emailing customer
Communicating Data with Periodic Tables
I think periodic tables might just be the most ubiquitous infographic. I have zero data to back up this assertion. It’s just something that chemists use all the time, and most chemists I know tend to have one handy at a moment’s notice, or decorate their offices with
An ode to my favorite printer
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] My beloved printer: a Canon Pixma iP4200 [https://www.bethhaas.me/caption] I have been using the same inkjet printer since 2006, a Canon Pixma iP4200. It was free after rebate when I bought my first Mac, and
culture
The Bus
"The last student who went to graduate school after working with me was hit by a bus," my research advisor said to me as I began to figure out what I'd do after graduation with a Bachelor's degree and a desire to work in
reflection
Professoring by the Golden Rule
My internal clock is perpetually off. I am very, very good at arriving 5 minutes late. Reminders and alarms help, but they aren't a cure. I am also an Olympic-level procrastinator. Something due at noon? I may finish at 11:57 that morning. (If it didn't
numeracy
What if we had a Math Center?
Writing centers are nearly ubiquitous on college and university campuses. Typically, students can bring in a piece of writing and have someone help them improve it: from catching typos or grammar errors to restructuring the text to strengthen the main argument. I wish for an equivalent Math Center. Math centers
profLife
Teaching on my feet
When I was an undergraduate, I was told not to expect snow days. The rumor was classes hadn't been canceled in 20 years or some such. They were canceled at least twice in four years. In graduate school, I was told the University never closed campus for bad
Increasing Accessibility with the Section 508 Refresh
My university’s annual Summer Institute on teaching and learning focused on accessibility this year. Specifically, we learned about the Section 508 refresh. If you don’t know what that phrase means, you’re in good company. I didn’t know either. Section 508 “Section 508” refers to part of
Level up!
The spring semester was rough. I was constantly going full-tilt and couldn’t find time to stop and breathe. This fall couldn’t be more different, though I’m busier than ever. I’m teaching an overload (15+ contact hours), wrangling four research students on three separate projects, picking up
profLife
Research Ideas and Foreboding Joy
The other day, I had an idea. I had a research idea, and I got very excited about it. I did a quick literature search and came up with almost nothing. That got me even more excited. And then it got me worried. “Nobody’s done this idea before! It’
conferences
Conferencing with an infant
I went to the ACS Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) at the beginning of June, and, since she’s still nursing and refuses to take a bottle, Sweet Pea came along. My husband did not. The conference was Sunday to Tuesday, and he wasn’t able to take Monday and Tuesday
reflection
All work and no play
March 2017 I spent the fall semester on maternity leave. My daughter arrived in August, a new and wondrous source of joy in my life. I needed weeks to recover physically from the stresses of childbirth, and months to figure out what my life looks like with another little person
tips+tricks
Academic Time-Savers: Text Entry on a Mac
Meghan Duffy tweeted a CHE article by Anne Curzan about using (or overusing) em dashes, which led a few folks on Twitter to point out ways to type a true em dash (— instead of --, for example). On an iOS device, you can simply press and hold the hyphen to
culture
Identity change
When I got married, I changed my last name. I was very attached to my maiden name, and couldn’t bear to let go of it completely, so I dropped what had been my middle name, took my maiden name for my new middle name, and finished off my new
reflection
Lessons from Year 2
We've reached the end of the semester and the end of my first year on the tenure-track. I've been thinking a lot lately about how different this school year feels than last, and where those differences come from. The obvious difference is that last year I