Imagine if you will a holiday on which it is customary to bring flowers, chocolates, and the like to another person for whom one has romantic feelings. I know, I know, a preposterous proposition, but sometimes an outlandish thought experiment can be helpful. And so on this holiday, you bring a gift of flowers and observe how happy they make your crush. The next year, you are late to the florist and cannot get flowers so you bring chocolate instead and notice an equally happy reaction. The following year you are extra … [Read more...] about Science Corner: When the Bloom is off the Rose
black scholars and professionals
Science Corner: Finding Ourselves among the Stars
I know I don't usually comment on the passing of public figures, but since I've been trying to highlight scientists of African descent it seemed appropriate to acknowledge that Katherine Johnson left us earlier this week. Johnson was introduced to many of us via the book Hidden Figures and subsequent film. She worked as a computer at NASA, making vital calculations of trajectories and orbits to ensure that astronauts got where they were going--including the moon--and came home again. In the age of smartphone navigation … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Finding Ourselves among the Stars
Science Corner: It’s Not Easy Being the One
I hope you had a chance last week to check out Joseph Graves, Jr's commentary on why more scientists of African descent are needed in evolutionary biology, and how to achieve greater parity. Graves discusses several of the challenges Americans of African descent have faced in order to participate in the sciences. One challenge he does not discuss in much detail but which others have described in various contexts is the extra pressure of being the only one "in the room" who is a member of an underrepresented group. You … [Read more...] about Science Corner: It’s Not Easy Being the One
How I found Mentors
Kateri Collins has been sharing her experiences preparing for graduate school with ESN this year. Now that she has started her program, she explores her stories of finding mentoring and offers tips. Check out Kateri's other pieces: the story of her graduate school search and a reflection on inhabiting transitional time well. Image: Painting by Kateri Collins. … [Read more...] about How I found Mentors
Inhabiting Transitional Time Well
Image by Kateri Collins Here at ESN, we love to share accounts of how emerging scholars discover new things about their vocation at every step of their careers. Kateri Collins participated in ESN events at Urbana 15 while in her graduate school application process, and shared about that application process here. Here, she shares some of the things she found most helpful while in transition between undergraduate and graduate studies. … [Read more...] about Inhabiting Transitional Time Well