Hey Everyone, hope you’re all well,
I think I’ve been bitten by the writing bug again! It makes a nice change. As much as I have loved re-discovering my inner creativity through my photography, it is nice to once again be expressing myself with words, as opposed to imagery.
I’m writing this post on WordPress. Some of you will see it directly via the WordPress reader, but chances are most of you will be drawn here via social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and so on… The relevance of this? Social media is important to academia (apologies for the rather cliched title!).
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Hi everyone! Welcome to my latest article. I am very lucky and grateful to be collaborating with Jennifer Polk: Academic, Career, and Life Coach, who has an amazing blog – From PhD to Life. Also check out #withaPhD. Here I am going to discuss my difficulties with an academic career, and over uncertainties over my future career. Jennifer offers advice on how to plan for the future and expand your career options. Make sure you look at our resource list at the end of the article, for a tonne of advice!
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Hi everyone!
Bone cement – saving lives since the 1940s (Part 1)
Bone cement – saving lives since the 1940s (Part 2)
My research into antibiotic loaded bone cement was carried out in an eight week summer research project with Professor Tom Smith at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. This was funded by a Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM) Students Into Work Grant, for which i am very grateful!
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Hi everyone, welcome to the latest #MicrobeStew article!
This week i am incredibly lucky to have my first guest post written by Laurie Winkless (@Laurie_Winkless), who is a physics and material sci Science Communicator. Please check out her blog “No Lab Coat Needed“, where she writes some excellent and informative posts. If you’re wondering, “how does this fit into a microbiology blog?”, then wonder no more. Laurie has written an article on aerogels, a technology I recently investigated as a method for antibiotic delivery in orthopaedic surgery. For my previous posts on this topic see here. This will be followed soon by a post on my research. Hope you enjoy!
I remember vividly the first time I saw aerogel – I was a 15-year old space nut, watching the news one evening with my parents. There, on my TV, was what I later described in my…
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So where does bone cement fit into this story? Since the 1940s, bone cement has been used, well, to cement bones back together (sorry it’s so obvious!). The bone cement I am discussing here is one of the most commonly used, a polymer called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). One of the first applications of PMMA was in cranioplasties (to repair cracks in skulls) in the 1940s.
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It is commonly known that many people typically outlive their joints (namely knees, hips, shoulders and elbows) and therefore need replacements. Damage to joints, especially those in the legs, causes a dramatic loss in quality of life.
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…Or should it be both?
Hi everyone,
Just a short post on a blogging conundrum I’ve been pondering. As those of you who have read my blog so far, you may have noticed my relaxed (i hope!) writing style, and things like the awesome illustration of me! The quote in said picture seems weirdly pertinent (oddly the words of a professor in the first Pokemon video games) but i digress…
My pondering is – is this a good way to generally present a blog, and specifically a blog that primarily discusses science communication?
Personally i like to put a personal touch in all my posts, even if that is just in some quirky terminology and funny pictures!
So my question to you is, should such a blog be this personal? Is there a ‘time and place for everything?’ Please leave me a comment below with your opinion, all are welcome –…
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If you don’t already read ‘no lab coat needed’ head over there right now and check out the back-catalogue, awesome stuff!
First of all (and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately), sorry for the radio silence, lovely followers, and thanks for your patience. Things in Laurie-land have been hectic of late… crap excuse I know, but hopefully you won’t mind too much… especially when you see the epic update on life, the universe and The Book below. Be warned, it will be a brain-dump. Anyway, let’s go through them in priority order…
You’ll hopefully be happy to hear that writing is progressing really well on Science and the City (SATC). I’m still further behind than I’d like, but momentum has definitely shifted and I am loving every minute. I made the decision to take a few months off work to just get my head down. Even just the process of making the decision had had a huge impact on my productivity. It cleared my head, leaving me focused, excited…
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Awesome new blog, the daily life of a phd student!
Microbe Stew 