SciWo says...
sciencewoman | December 9, 2009When I began to blog almost 5 years ago, I wanted to share stories of my graduate school experience with other women scientists in the hopes that we could form a virtual support network for each other. Back then it took me weeks to find even one other woman doing the same thing with a blog. Today, there is a whole community of women blogging about their experiences in science and engineering, from undergraduates to tenured faculty. A google search of "woman science blog" or similar will point to some prominent blogs and from there a newbie blog reader can use blog rolls and comment threads…
sciencewoman | November 30, 2009I did a not-so-stellar job of meeting my not-so-stellar goals for writing and research in November, but I did get some stuff done.
Done! Accepted!!!!! Finish revisions on the paper-that-won't-die (goal: November 13)
Done! Internal release time application (due November 18)
Read some, but not nearly enough. Read around proposed grad student topics enough to ensure we're not reinventing the wheel/pursuing proven dead ends (amorphous, I know)
Made progress, not enough to strike-through. Finish GIS work left-over from 2008 AGU poster.
Done! Draft abstract that is due in early December, so that I…
sb admin | November 27, 2009This week we are reading Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This video was produced with a dedication to Kate, who explained to me why kids like this book so much even before they understand everything that's happening in it. She wisely told me that it's because kids rarely get to hear a story about a kid getting really mad, expressing their feelings, and without a neat fairy-tale or moralistic ending. Alexander just has a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day, and he's not afraid to tell us about it.
I'd also like to dedicate this post to all of…
sciencewoman | November 27, 2009This week we are reading Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This video was produced with a dedication to Kate, who explained to me why kids like this book so much even before they understand everything that's happening in it. She wisely told me that it's because kids rarely get to hear a story about a kid getting really mad, expressing their feelings, and without a neat fairy-tale or moralistic ending. Alexander just has a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day, and he's not afraid to tell us about it.
I'd also like to dedicate this post to all of…
sb admin | November 20, 2009I am not in charge of SciWo's Storytime. Sure, it might look like I'm the one reading the books and operating the video camera, but Minnow exerts the ultimate executive authority as editor-in-chief. Some weeks no videos whatsoever are allowed to be made, some weeks she's content to let me pick the book, and some weeks she is quite happy to make a whole string of videos, so long as she chooses the content.
With that proviso, Minnow presents this week's edition of SciWo's Storytime featuring the book Little Squire the Fire Engine by Catherine Kenworthy and illustrated by Nina Barbaresi.
Now…
sciencewoman | November 6, 2009A few days ago I arrived at my office in the morning and was greeted with an unpleasant surprise...someone had scratched a cross into the bulletin board just outside my office door.
(Apologies for the terrible cell-phone picture.)
While I'm able to cover the image with a strategically placed advising schedule, I'm haunted by a terribly icky feeling in the pit of my stomach. Was someone trying to send me a message? Why a cross? Why my board and not the boards of my male colleagues along the corridor?
I'm not offended by images of crosses in general, but it is not something that I want…
sciencewoman | October 6, 2009I'm preparing material for this week's class on experimental design and data analysis, and I ran across this paragraph which I thought was very interesting:
"The cost of analyzing collected sediment samples usually exceeds that of collecting them. However, the funds for the analysis are wasted if samples are collected at inappropriate locations or do not represent the study area. Further, the proper selection and use of sediment sampling equipment, sample handling, storage and transport are all equally important to the selection of sampling locations. Therefore, about 60% of the time…
sciencewoman | September 23, 2009Don't adjust that dial. Starting ~ now, ScienceWoman is officially renaming herself SciWo. I've been trying out the name for some time, but have finally decided to make it official and change the way my posts are labeled, my comments signed, and my tweets delivered. Partly, this is an effort to combat Alice's invisibility that was created when our blog name was so close to my pseudonym. (You wouldn't believe the number of emails that we get that either think we are one person or that mix the two of us up.) But another justification for the pseudonym mutation is that I want my nym to reflect…
sciencewoman | September 8, 2009Those following along on Twitter know that late August became my #weeksofdoom in which I triumphed over three major deadlines on top of the beginning of classes and starting Minnow in a new school. (Hence, the unexpectedly long bloggy absence).
Now that the weeks of doom* are over, I'm finally trying to settle into a productive but sane rhythm for the semester. It was such a blessing to have a long weekend to just hang out and play with Minnow (we tented in the backyard and baked an apple pie), and for the first time this semester, I feel mostly prepared for my new prep EDDA class tomorrow.…
sciencewoman | August 14, 2009Dear asshat,
When you are only carrying a small garment bag and attache case, and you encounter a mother struggling into the airport parking deck elevator with a toddler in hand, giant carseat over one shoulder, suitcase rolling behind and attache case over the other shoulder, the correct thing to do is NOT to say: "Boy, you sure don't believe in traveling light." and then get off the elevator, striding toward the shuttle bus stop with nary a backward glance. The correct thing to do is say "Would you like a little help with your load?" and then help her carry something to the bus stop. It…
sciencewoman | July 31, 2009Abel, host of the next edition of Scientiae, has asked us how we balance our summer "musts" and "needs" (work and play). I think I've come up with a personally satisfactory answer to that question: lazy summer mornings.
During the academic year, mornings are a blur of getting everyone breakfast, dressed, and out the door. Sometimes Minnow would rather stay at home and play, but those 9 am classes and meetings won't wait for a toddler.
In the summer that time pressure is off. Rather than leaping out of bed with alarm clock, we let the dogs whining and our body's inclinations do the trick. We…
sciencewoman | July 31, 2009I need some new teaching shoes for fall semester. My trustworthy, if utilitarian, Keens always look incongruous with the feminine tailoring I prefer for my teaching/meeting outfits. Plus, my black Keens are a bit too big for my feet, since they were purchased late in pregnancy. So I've been looking for some new shoes - somewhat feminine, somewhat fun, but still they must be comfortable. I need to be able to walk around campus in them, even if I switch to Keens or Chacos when I go to pick up Minnow.
Like all good shoe-lovers would, I started with Isis's weekly shoe selections. But many of the…
sciencewoman | July 30, 2009If she lives in New Jersey, she might be. Because apparently, refusing a C-section (and then successfully vaginally delivering a healthy baby) and acting "combative" "erratic" and "noncompliant" during labor is considered child abuse and neglect and is grounds for the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (NJ DYFS) to immediately take away your newborn child and permanently terminate your parental rights.
Sounds unbelievable, right? But I am so not making this up.
In the case of New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services v. V.M. and B.G., In the Matter of J.M.G., new mother…
sciencewoman | July 27, 2009Two months ago, at the beginning of the summer, I asked Dr. Isis, the goddess of all things domestic and laboratory, for some fashion advice. My problem was one of hot outside-cold inside - which is pretty unappealing when referring to undercooked microwaved food - but also pretty obnoxious when you are talking about frigid offices in sizzling summer weather.
Here's part of what I asked Dr. Isis:
Please, oh goddess of style, recommend a blazer or sweater that will be versatile enough to see me through summer work sessions in a frigid office and impromptu meetings across campus. Ideally this…
sciencewoman | July 27, 2009Plagiarizing from Profgrrrrl, the translation would be "Oh Shit, I must write! week."
In a week and a half, I'm going out of town for a week and a half. In between now and when I get back, there are a number of important things with external deadlines that must be met.
Write and submit invited abstract
Submit paperwork to university compliance office
Write letter of intent for a big grant (and make progress on the grant app itself)
Write volunteered abstract, get co-author input, revise and submit
Get student working on hir abstract, revise as necessary, make sure zie submits
Write draft of…
sciencewoman | July 27, 2009Sprinklers. Wading pools. Picnics. Dogs. Playing with Minnow. Hanging out with good friends. The hallmarks of well-spent summer weekends. Just don't forget the cucumbers...
One day's worth of cucumbers, after a few days of rain. This picture was from a few weeks back, and fortunately the cucumber flux has eased somewhat, but it's still difficult to maintain the cucumber mass balance in our house. Anybody want some?
What do you do with so many cucumbers? Make 2 versions of cucumber-tomato salad for a friend's house-warming party, and bring 2 extra cucumbers as her housewarming gift. Too bad…
sciencewoman | July 20, 2009Have you seen Ethan Siegel? He's the blogger behind Starts with a Bang. The guy has got a lot of hair!
And he's offering to shave his head if 100 unique commenters each give at least $10 dollars or 4 hours of their time to the charity of their choice. What a great way to give people a little kick in the butt to do something good.
Ethan's post reminded me that I still hadn't completed our promised giving for the Silence is the Enemy project. Alice and I promised to double the amount we were paid for clicks in the month of June. We gave half of that money to Doctors without Borders (MSF) and…
sciencewoman | July 16, 2009Don't worry I'll be back to the course design series soon, but I spent yesterday focused on other things (paper revisions, grant proposals) and I haven't completed the necessary work to get the next post up. And it's Friday, so let's divert to lighter equally serious but different topics.
As the mother of a toddler daughter I've been struggling with the overt patriarchy of the classic Disneyfied fairy tales, in which a stereotypically beautiful damsel in distress is helpless until rescued by a prince. I'd been trying to avoid exposing my daughter to the princess stories (Cinderella, Sleeping…
sciencewoman | July 13, 2009A few weeks ago, I blogged a self-assessment of my progress towards tenure. It seemed like an apt time to reflect in the hours before my annual review meeting with the department chair(s) and in the months before my packet for reappointment is submitted. Reappointment is the first and only gatekeeping between me and submitting that tenure dossier in three years. I feel OK about reappointment, but less so about tenure. So that's the focus of the navel-gazing. (I suspect such gazing will only get worse as the next few years wend on.)
In my self-assessment, I identified a number of areas where…
sciencewoman | July 7, 2009Dear student who left a 3 oz. blob of ketchup right where people step out of the stairway and into the hallway,
The dozens of people who will have to sidestep your mess this afternoon do not appreciate you and your laziness. There are bathrooms with paper towels 15 m away from the spot where you made your mess. I'm the mother of a toddler, and I know for a fact that paper towels will do an admirable job of wiping up most spilled food. Even if you didn't manage to get every last drop of ketchup off the linoleum, people would much rather accidentally step in a few smudges of it than step in…