Author Archives: Rebecca Nesbit
How genetics can reduce the threat from the world’s changing diet
Rebecca Nesbit is an ecologist, blogger and author of Is that Fish in your Tomato?, exploring the opportunities and risks of genetically modified foods. A trip to the supermarket gives me cheap and easy access to foods which would have been alien to my grandparents, and walking past food shops in London suburbs often introduces … Continue reading
Podcast: Indian tigers as flagships for conservation
By Rebecca Nesbit MRSB, ecologist and author Before I attended the Biology Week debate on ‘Should we save the panda?‘, I was conflicted. The loss of such an incredible species felt like a tragedy, yet ‘it’s cute and furry’ seemed no reason to allocate scarce conservation funds to its protection. I left the debate with my conflicts … Continue reading
Myth of the ‘pied piper’ butterfly
Dr Rebecca Nesbit MRSB offers some background to the free Biology Week event ‘Insect and bird migration: revealing the mysteries of flight’. It’s that time of year again – the swallows are collecting on the telegraph wires ready to escape the cold that’s coming our way. It’s a sad spectacle for anyone lamenting the end of … Continue reading
What is an alternative to impact factors?
Rebecca Nesbit MRSB has put together videos of advice from Nobel Laureates speaking at Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative events. Impact factors are flawed – we all know that, we all agree. But where do we go from here? They are a simple way to judge a researcher, and this is very welcome if you are comparing lots of applicants for … Continue reading
Make your job applications stand out
By Rebecca Nesbit Many early-career researchers are haunted by fears about their future of employment. The stats aren’t reassuring – fewer than 1 in 200 science PhD students become professors. But there are exciting next steps to be found, and here are some ways for aspiring academics to increase their chances of success. For a … Continue reading
You’re not alone in hating impact factors
By Rebecca Nesbit Hands up who hates impact factors. Everyone? Then why do we still use them? I believe one of the reasons is that we think the people at the top use them. There is no doubt some truth in this, though I was relieved to discover that many influential people are willing to … Continue reading
Diversity and blogging
Rebecca Nesbit is one of the tutors on the upcoming Society of Biology Writing for a non-specialist audience course. Diversity was a long way from my mind when, during my PhD, I made my first explorations in writing popular science. At first, my writing simply a way to discover new science and share it in … Continue reading
Twitter: a guide for the sceptical scientist
Following her article in the latest Biologist, Rebecca Nesbit gives a Twitter introduction for scientists and shares some of her favourite hashtags. Twitter can be a daunting place for a new user, and my advice spiel which starts with hashtags and @ mentions can be rather a turn off. So before I get going on … Continue reading
Looking for a career after academia?
As someone who has survived the transition from research to the outside world, I’m always keen to hear how other people are making the most of the skills from their PhD. Vitae is doing a survey of ‘What do research staff do next?‘ and has some useful resources. These three videos caught my eye in … Continue reading