On Science

Science is so often rationalised blinding out the person behind. Yet, also science is always subjectively influenced by the person conducting it. Science comes with lots of emotions. There is a rollercoaster happening not visible in a publication or cite score. This is why I share here some behind the scenes of my life as a soil ecologist. May this be a little step against science being locked up far away in the ivory tower, counteracting the increasing sceptisism for science. Also, there are still less female sciencists. May some insights into a scientist life help to better grasp the daily life and promote more women in science!

• Moral meanders and the daily struggle to kill my friends
  From “extracting” to “fixing” soil organisms If somebody asked me what is the hardest part about my job, my answer would definitely be the killing part. I guess every biology student goes through the moral justification using animals for studying or for doing their research. Since I never studied biology and faced those moral dilemmas,… Read more: Moral meanders and the daily struggle to kill my friends
• On ‘wild’ horses and the smell of wetland soil
  Xistral is this weird wind power wetland park in the North of Galicia, close to Ferrol and Vilalba. It’s not a protected zone, most likely due to the presence of the enormous wind power park and the influence of farmers’ strong lobby. There are a lot of wild horses and some close pastures for cattle… Read more: On ‘wild’ horses and the smell of wetland soil
• On soil sampling in Galicia
  I work as a soil ecologist on a project aiming to assess the life in the soil around Europe (SOB4ES). In the first years, we mostly take soil samples to identify the different organisms in the soil. This will allow us to better understand who lives where and maybe also why and with which consequences.… Read more: On soil sampling in Galicia
• The imperfect scientist
  About my access to academia and why we need to accept that the concept of a perfect scientist is a fallacy, far from reality, creating wrong expectations. I am sharing here the path towards my PhD because it is not a straight one following the accumulation of one degree after another. In contrast to still… Read more: The imperfect scientist