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Tips and tricks for the final thesis push

October 23, 2018June 17, 2019

Mental health chat: Progress

October 18, 2018June 14, 2019

Meet the Scientist – Dr Jaclyn Bell

October 8, 2018June 17, 2019

Meet the Scientist- Melanie Jackson

July 12, 2018June 17, 2019

Meet the Scientist- Kathryn De Abreu

June 20, 2018June 17, 2019

Real science vs movie science

June 8, 2018June 14, 2019

Skincare secrets

May 25, 2018November 28, 2018

The truth about hay fever

May 17, 2018November 28, 2018

Meet the Scientist- Kirsten Hawkins

May 10, 2018June 17, 2019

How do Plants know when to flower?

April 24, 2018November 28, 2018

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Working from 🏠 - - - - Like a lot of people I am going to be working from home a lot more in the upcoming days and weeks. My institute is still open, allowing me (and others) to go in when needed-which is great for keeping my 🌾experiments progressing. Whilst at work we are all being very careful, and practising social distancing and safe working practices. - - Predominantly my office work will be done at home, and I, like many others are a little nervous at the prospect of working from 🏠. So I thought I would share some of my at home work practices with you guys, hopefully you find it useful 😊 - 🌟Keep up a normal routine. Start work at the same time as normal, take a morning break, lunch break and finish by 5pm. - 🌟Get out the pyjamas! Put on normal work clothes, to make you feel like you are 'going' to work. - 🌟No chores during the day. I am at work even when I am at home-this means no chores during the work day! - 🌟Set up a good work space and keep it seperate from living/bed, keeping up those distinctions really help me keep focused. - 🌟Write down things to do that day-plan and tick off as you go. This helps me keep focused on tasks, and motivated. - 🌟 I have also set up a work chat with other members of the lab where we can chat through the day, and talk silly things seperate from work. We also have a specific work chat and iteams set up so we can discuss work and have meetings. - 🌟Get some fresh air. As long as you practice social distancing, and are sensible there is nothing stopping you getting fresh air. Whether this is a stroll round the garden, a cuppa on the balcony, or a walk round the block. Fresh air helps everything. - 🌟 And finally, at the end of the day I will think of Heather Small and ask myself "what have you done to make you feel proud?" 🎶 this will help remind me of what I have achieved! - - Stay safe, and healthy everyone! - What are you going to be doing to help your motivation whilst working at home? Share below! (Lets keep the comments positive, and uplifting 😊) - #postdoclife #science #workfromhome #scienceathome #academia #womeninstemm #biology #socialdistancing #instascience #sciencecommunity

5 minutes of screwing and unscrewing eppendorf tubes, and some pipetting all condensed into <20 seconds! - Sometimes experiments take longer than you think, not because of the actual experiment-but because of the sample prep! - Anyone else misjudge how long something will take because they forgot to include the time needed to labels tubes, or unscrew and rescrew tubes?! - For this experiment, I am taking samples prepared for starch quantification and pipetting 10ul 3x into a 96 well plate. Normal cap lidded eppendorfs would have made this process faster, but due to the earlier boiling and digesting step in the protocol, screw capped tubes are better. - It can be tedious, but its all worth if for the data! - - - #science #biology #plantsci #womeninstemm #postdoc #scientist #scicomm #academiclife #instascience

When you think of a scientist where do you picture them? 🤔 - - A lot of people think scientists spend all day everyday in the lab 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬, but really we spend a lot more time at our desks (swipe right) than you would imagine! And of course there are some scientists that never even see a lab, as they are purely computational 👩‍💻. - - Of course, the amount of lab work to desk work you do as a scientist changes depending on your area of research, and changes a lot week to week! I for example have a lot of downtime, in terms of lab work, whilst I am waiting for 🌾 to make grain! - - This week for instance, I would say I have spent 20% of my time doing lab-based things, and the rest of the time out of the lab- crunching data, making figures, going to meetings and seminars... - - When I first started my PhD I was actually suprised how much time I spent doing reading and non-lab things compared to lab-based work. This can actually be a steep learning curve for new PhDs, and can be hard to get used to- especially in terms of keeping yourself motivated! - - I like to write down all the things I need to do before I start, and work on each task. I also work in "blocks" with regular breaks away from the computer, and always make sure I have lunch away from the desk. - - What do you think your % lab:desk work is? And if you aren't a scientist, does it suprise you at all? I would love to hear your thoughts! - - #womeninstemm #science #biology #plantbiology #plantsci #womeninscience #postdoc #postdoclife #academia #whatascientistdoes #scicomm #sciblogger

Evening! - What did you guys get up to today? I had a few things on my to do list but postponed all the things that involved walking to the glasshouses as the weather was crazzzyyyy! 😂 - Instead I lurked in the lab and did a starch extraction-part of which is shown in the short video. - This involves mushing up some wheat grains in water with a mortar and pestle, before filtering. The next steps involve a solution called percoll-this seperates out the starch granules from the proteins in the extraction mix. Finally I washed the starch many, many, many times! - This starch extraction will be used for lots of different things- I will have a look at the overall starch makeup in my wheat lines (the ratio of large A granules to small B granules), and can look at any morophological changes in the starch granules. - - 🤞 the weather is better tomorrow, and I can get to the glasshouses without ending up like a drowned rat! - - #instascience #postdoc #plantscience #plantbiology #biology #academia #scicomm #womeninstemm #womeninscience #scientistsofinstagram

SEM time 🔬 - - The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is amazing! - This is a type of microscope that produces a image by scanning the surface of a sample with a focused beam of electrons. - The SEM is so good because it can distinguish points that are super close together (in the v.low nm range). This also means a SEM has great resolution, enabling us to take very zoomed in photos in high resolution of extremely small things-like in my case starch granules. - I 💖 doing microscopy. Before my postdoc I had never used the SEM before, and everytime I use it I am amazed by the images it can take. - The only thing I don't like is how cold the room is. Which is kept at a regulated temperature, which is slightly cooler. It's not even that cold 😅 just when you are sat not moving you can get quite chilly! By the end of a session I have bundled on so many layers and am like a living iceman ⛄ (swipe right!) - - #postdoc #postdoclife #scicomm #scientistsofinstagram #biology #plantsci #plantbiology #instascience #sciblogger #womeninstemm

#Timetotalk - Today is the official time to talk day. Mental health affects 1 in 4 people. Mental health comes in all shapes and sizes and can affect anyone to any degree- anxiety, depression, OCD, Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia... the list goes on. - - I myself have generalised anxiety disorder. This is also accompanied by mild depression, OCD like symptoms and panoc attacks. I started openly talking about my mental health a few years ago. And I have seen so many benefits linked to talking openly about my mental health- both to myself and others. - It has helped friends and family understand "me" a lot more, and I have even had a few people come to talk to me about things like counselling, ways to get help, and to just generally chat. - I am also a part of the newly formed mental health and wellbeing committee at my work place @johninnescentre and it has been so amazing talking to other like minded people and helping to change how people talk about mental health. - At first talking openly about my anxiety was hard, and at times it still is- especially trying to explain why I am feeling anxious or what I am feeling exactly, but now I feel a lot more comfy about it, and the benefits far outweigh the bad. - So lets talk more about our mental health and experiences- starting with today, and continuing on everyday 💕 - - - #TimeToTalk #mentalhealth #anxiety #wellbeing #timetochange #shinealightonmentalhealth #letstalk #wellbeingwarrior #scientistsofinstagram #scientist #biologist #academia #postdoclife

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Working from 🏠 - - - - Like a lot of people I am going to be working from home a lot more in the upcoming days and weeks. My institute is still open, allowing me (and others) to go in when needed-which is great for keeping my 🌾experiments progressing. Whilst at work we are all being very careful, and practising social distancing and safe working practices. - - Predominantly my office work will be done at home, and I, like many others are a little nervous at the prospect of working from 🏠. So I thought I would share some of my at home work practices with you guys, hopefully you find it useful 😊 - 🌟Keep up a normal routine. Start work at the same time as normal, take a morning break, lunch break and finish by 5pm. - 🌟Get out the pyjamas! Put on normal work clothes, to make you feel like you are 'going' to work. - 🌟No chores during the day. I am at work even when I am at home-this means no chores during the work day! - 🌟Set up a good work space and keep it seperate from living/bed, keeping up those distinctions really help me keep focused. - 🌟Write down things to do that day-plan and tick off as you go. This helps me keep focused on tasks, and motivated. - 🌟 I have also set up a work chat with other members of the lab where we can chat through the day, and talk silly things seperate from work. We also have a specific work chat and iteams set up so we can discuss work and have meetings. - 🌟Get some fresh air. As long as you practice social distancing, and are sensible there is nothing stopping you getting fresh air. Whether this is a stroll round the garden, a cuppa on the balcony, or a walk round the block. Fresh air helps everything. - 🌟 And finally, at the end of the day I will think of Heather Small and ask myself "what have you done to make you feel proud?" 🎶 this will help remind me of what I have achieved! - - Stay safe, and healthy everyone! - What are you going to be doing to help your motivation whilst working at home? Share below! (Lets keep the comments positive, and uplifting 😊) - #postdoclife #science #workfromhome #scienceathome #academia #womeninstemm #biology #socialdistancing #instascience #sciencecommunity

5 minutes of screwing and unscrewing eppendorf tubes, and some pipetting all condensed into <20 seconds! - Sometimes experiments take longer than you think, not because of the actual experiment-but because of the sample prep! - Anyone else misjudge how long something will take because they forgot to include the time needed to labels tubes, or unscrew and rescrew tubes?! - For this experiment, I am taking samples prepared for starch quantification and pipetting 10ul 3x into a 96 well plate. Normal cap lidded eppendorfs would have made this process faster, but due to the earlier boiling and digesting step in the protocol, screw capped tubes are better. - It can be tedious, but its all worth if for the data! - - - #science #biology #plantsci #womeninstemm #postdoc #scientist #scicomm #academiclife #instascience

When you think of a scientist where do you picture them? 🤔 - - A lot of people think scientists spend all day everyday in the lab 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬, but really we spend a lot more time at our desks (swipe right) than you would imagine! And of course there are some scientists that never even see a lab, as they are purely computational 👩‍💻. - - Of course, the amount of lab work to desk work you do as a scientist changes depending on your area of research, and changes a lot week to week! I for example have a lot of downtime, in terms of lab work, whilst I am waiting for 🌾 to make grain! - - This week for instance, I would say I have spent 20% of my time doing lab-based things, and the rest of the time out of the lab- crunching data, making figures, going to meetings and seminars... - - When I first started my PhD I was actually suprised how much time I spent doing reading and non-lab things compared to lab-based work. This can actually be a steep learning curve for new PhDs, and can be hard to get used to- especially in terms of keeping yourself motivated! - - I like to write down all the things I need to do before I start, and work on each task. I also work in "blocks" with regular breaks away from the computer, and always make sure I have lunch away from the desk. - - What do you think your % lab:desk work is? And if you aren't a scientist, does it suprise you at all? I would love to hear your thoughts! - - #womeninstemm #science #biology #plantbiology #plantsci #womeninscience #postdoc #postdoclife #academia #whatascientistdoes #scicomm #sciblogger

Evening! - What did you guys get up to today? I had a few things on my to do list but postponed all the things that involved walking to the glasshouses as the weather was crazzzyyyy! 😂 - Instead I lurked in the lab and did a starch extraction-part of which is shown in the short video. - This involves mushing up some wheat grains in water with a mortar and pestle, before filtering. The next steps involve a solution called percoll-this seperates out the starch granules from the proteins in the extraction mix. Finally I washed the starch many, many, many times! - This starch extraction will be used for lots of different things- I will have a look at the overall starch makeup in my wheat lines (the ratio of large A granules to small B granules), and can look at any morophological changes in the starch granules. - - 🤞 the weather is better tomorrow, and I can get to the glasshouses without ending up like a drowned rat! - - #instascience #postdoc #plantscience #plantbiology #biology #academia #scicomm #womeninstemm #womeninscience #scientistsofinstagram

SEM time 🔬 - - The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is amazing! - This is a type of microscope that produces a image by scanning the surface of a sample with a focused beam of electrons. - The SEM is so good because it can distinguish points that are super close together (in the v.low nm range). This also means a SEM has great resolution, enabling us to take very zoomed in photos in high resolution of extremely small things-like in my case starch granules. - I 💖 doing microscopy. Before my postdoc I had never used the SEM before, and everytime I use it I am amazed by the images it can take. - The only thing I don't like is how cold the room is. Which is kept at a regulated temperature, which is slightly cooler. It's not even that cold 😅 just when you are sat not moving you can get quite chilly! By the end of a session I have bundled on so many layers and am like a living iceman ⛄ (swipe right!) - - #postdoc #postdoclife #scicomm #scientistsofinstagram #biology #plantsci #plantbiology #instascience #sciblogger #womeninstemm

#Timetotalk - Today is the official time to talk day. Mental health affects 1 in 4 people. Mental health comes in all shapes and sizes and can affect anyone to any degree- anxiety, depression, OCD, Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia... the list goes on. - - I myself have generalised anxiety disorder. This is also accompanied by mild depression, OCD like symptoms and panoc attacks. I started openly talking about my mental health a few years ago. And I have seen so many benefits linked to talking openly about my mental health- both to myself and others. - It has helped friends and family understand "me" a lot more, and I have even had a few people come to talk to me about things like counselling, ways to get help, and to just generally chat. - I am also a part of the newly formed mental health and wellbeing committee at my work place @johninnescentre and it has been so amazing talking to other like minded people and helping to change how people talk about mental health. - At first talking openly about my anxiety was hard, and at times it still is- especially trying to explain why I am feeling anxious or what I am feeling exactly, but now I feel a lot more comfy about it, and the benefits far outweigh the bad. - So lets talk more about our mental health and experiences- starting with today, and continuing on everyday 💕 - - - #TimeToTalk #mentalhealth #anxiety #wellbeing #timetochange #shinealightonmentalhealth #letstalk #wellbeingwarrior #scientistsofinstagram #scientist #biologist #academia #postdoclife

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