A Natural Scientist

I recently learned that Ben Barres died at the end of the year . When his article about gender came out in 2006, I was in grad school at ...

Although I have not been a postdoc (you couldn't pay me enough... ha, ha) I did get to play along for five years while Dr. S enjoyed a p...

Very short version: Mountain U offered the spouse a TT job-of-his-dreams, here in the exact place we most want to live.  So. Much longer ...

Unearthed from the vault.  Apparently I wrote, but never published, this one! *****  Reader T. asks: 'My jerk of a boss wants to...

My dear spouse is, as I've mentioned, interviewing for academic jobs. Personally, I think it's all a giant Ponzi scheme, liable to c...

My former advisor and I did not get along for many long years ; in fact, until one day when I politely told him off.  He was, in fact, delig...

Your postdoc advisor informs you that all three completely new projects that you came up with, developed, and started publishing in said ad...

* Went to a party full of scientists, with kids in tow. Only housewife there. Reactions from amusing to infuriating. ("What do you d...

Or, more accurately, because I already said it to my spouse and he found it extremely annoying: I TOLD YOU SO. (Crazy bosses don't ge...

Dr. S's boss, as I have mentioned before, is a mildly psychotic tinpot tyrant.  They are trying to get a paper published.  They submit...

Not you , dear reader. Dr. S's boss. She epitomizes the petty-fiefdom ideal, complete with serfs of varying castes. Dr. S has just dep...

Belle once told me that the voice of her conscience sometimes spoke to her in my voice, saying "And people in Hell want ice water !...

I have a long-standing theory that PIs at large universities are not selected for either management skills or teaching ability, and therefo...

Snooty U. regularly attempts to hit me up for cash. You know, because of all my warm fuzzy grad school memories. Their spiel is 1) Contri...

... tell my former advisor in response to his increasingly annoying shrill panicked urgent emails, regarding our poor little doomed manu...

Thanks so much for sending the reviews from my doomed little manuscript. Again. I wrote you back once. What's that? You want more? ...

Recently, three women joined my lab, more than doubling the female population. (Just in time for me to leave.) There was instant bonding, ...

I recently heard about a situation in another lab. To be intentionally vague: They have a Difficult Personality. Said Difficult Personali...

I know that many of you kind readers have tagged me for memes. I assure you that there is only forgetfulness and no malice whatsoever in my...

Er... I have nothing coherent to say. I have been conferenced. There were lots of people. Lots. And lots. The company reps gave me a dizzyin...