My shiny new tenure-stream job terrifies me. Just thinking about it gives me a creeping case of Impostor Syndrome. This fall I will teach a course I've never taught before, and I'll be a PI for the first time. The fraidy-cat part of me insists that
scientists
Reset your "days since a sexism-in-science incident" counters to zero. A Nobel laureate dug himself a pretty deep and boggy hole when, among other things, he explained why he thought men and women shouldn't be in labs together. Apparently, the womenz are just too irresistible and
numeracy
Alto's Adventure [iOS] is a beautiful little game. You start as Alto, a snowboarding boy who is trying to catch runaway llamas. As you progress, you can choose to play as some of Alto's friends (my husband's favorite is the quick-flipping Maya; I tend
gradLife
This time last year, I was a newly-minted PhD, still revising my dissertation. I had just accepted my job at Briggs, and I was preparing for a conference, a vacation, and a new routine. I don't remember much of my defense. My parents came to see it, even
culture
I want to tell you a story about pipettes, specifically micropipette tips, and how a few boxes of pipette tips made me feel like an outsider. This story begins more than a decade ago, in a grocery store. It’s an odd place to start a story about pipette tips,
culture
I wrote this in October and somehow didn't manage to post it then. I know a professor – a youngish white guy who looks older than he is – who wears a suit an tie to every class because, he says, he wants to command authority in the classroom. He
scientists
This is your weekly reminder that science isn't sexist. In other news, we have always been at war with Eastasia and these are not the droids you are looking for.
education
My mother is an elementary school teacher. She chose that career path at approximately the age of 12 when writing an essay about what she wanted to be when she grew up. And she stuck to it. She's a Master Teacher, an expert in elementary education with extensive
reflection
One thing that surprised me about the change from grad student to professor is how shy I felt about doing "faculty" things. Checking my department mailbox. Using the copier. Going to meetings. When I was in high school, I once knocked on the door of the faculty break
culture
It's Nobel Prize season, and everyone has their picks for which chemists might get a phone call from Sweden. All the names I've seen are of accomplished people who've done excellent, influential work. There's a problem with all these lists, though: I
jobs
I love working at Lyman Briggs, but the job I have is a temporary one. I’m only here for a year. The academic job market has a particular annual cycle, and right now it’s application time for tenure-track positions. This means that though I will be happily teaching
education
My job has overwhelmed me more times than I can count. I have found it very hard. But I love it. So much. I must be nuts to love this much hard. So far I’ve had students crying at me in the hallway and at office hours,1 one