Sign me up for RSS!- How can you go wrong with a gap year?
- Advising undergraduates: encourage them to get to know themselves
- Did you join Mastodon yet?
- Is there a book you want to write?
- What I learned from reading my book aloud
- Retraction with honor
- Ten steps to optimizing learning at large conferences
- Do not love your writing
- What have you discovered?
- An easy productivity tip: don’t stop at a stopping place
Category Archives: Mentoring
What is your anxiety telling you?
Megan Duffy had a thoughtful post on not inducing anxiety in others. She mentioned the specific case of reducing anxiety in others by being really clear. Instead of saying something like meet me Thursday, say why. I agree that getting … Continue reading
Posted in Managing an academic career, Mentoring, Social interactions, Undergraduates
Tagged anxiety, career choices, clarity, kindness, self honesty
Leave a comment
Do you have a lab philosophy?
Recently our lab group spent a bit of time deciding on exactly how we want to interact with one another. What is this whole lab group business all about? What are the rules? What are the guidelines? Do we have … Continue reading
How to organize a fabulous small meeting
When I see a young scientist talking to one of the grizzled leaders of the field at a meeting I have organized, I hope that the new scientist will discover something valuable from her elder. Likewise, I hope the … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Mentoring, Posters, Presentations and seminars, Scientific meetings
Tagged communication, creative interactions, fun, meetings, posters
Leave a comment
Bring on your questions! I’ll answer.
Some of my readers in ticklish academic dilemmas have emailed me with questions. I answer these questions, privately first, and sometimes I then address the topic with a general blog on it. I do this later and without giving any … Continue reading
Mentoring graduate students: choose one thing
Yesterday I popped into my friend Liz Haswell’s office to get a copy of her recent tenure talk on a flash drive. We could have Dropboxed it, but this way we got to chat a little. I asked her how … Continue reading
Posted in Mentoring
Comments Off on Mentoring graduate students: choose one thing
Undergraduate journal clubs are important
In the summer, the undergraduates in our lab group meet without us. During the academic year they have a lab meeting and journal club dedicated just to them. This is important because it is hard to think critically when you … Continue reading
Posted in Mentoring, The joy of teaching, Undergraduates, Your lab group
Tagged critical reading, learning, undergraduate
Leave a comment
Women, did you hear biology professor is the most glorious career I can imagine?
I just want to cry when I hear how discouraged women are from pursuing science careers. I want to do more than cry when I hear about how little encouragement professors give even their most promising women. Why do we … Continue reading
Do you have your own lab training activities?
We always worry about how well we communicate safe and accurate procedures to new students. We had several new undergrads join our lab last spring, so we decided to have a concentrated session of training on a Saturday. Debbie Brock … Continue reading
Sociobiology 