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A compilation of stories, telescopes, internship resources, and other things radio astronomy.
The Professional Student is a blog about everything grad school from the application process to my experiences living as a grad student, being a parent in grad school, and researching the role of chemistry in the evolution of our universe.
Applications for the 2023 CAS Future Leaders Program are open! In this post, I share some tips for writing a strong essay for the application. Applications are due January 29, 2023.
Read MoreIt’s hard to believe that I defended my PhD thesis a year ago! My first year as Dr. Wilkins has been a busy one. This post shares some reflections on what I’ve done and how I’ve grown in my first year as a postdoc.
Read MoreAfter a packed week of professional development, I enjoyed some quiet time in a coffee shop to reflect on the CAS Future Leaders program.
Read MoreI’m spending the week in Columbus, OH, for the CAS Future Leaders program. In this post, I share my feelings just prior to takeoff at BWI.
Read MoreSomething I learned multiple times throughout my time working on the Ph.D. is that graduate school is a marathon. Well, I have (almost) completed this marathon, and it would not have been possible without having a supportive group of people who have trained me, cheered for me, or provided water (read: coffee) breaks along the way. These are my Ph.D. thesis acknowledgements.
Read MoreAfter teaching Scientific Writing for 5 years and being a freelance editor since several months ago, I’ve noticed some common minor mistakes. In this post, I list the mistakes I see most often and provide some tips for avoiding them in your writing.
Read MoreAnother Ph.D. milestone down! I survived my props exam! In this post, I share a little bit about the experience, including reflections and tips for Ph.D. candidates going through something similar.
Read MoreThe book I wrote and partially illustrated for the American Chemical Society has been published!
Read MoreScience art, conferences, travel, and moving. These are the highlights from my terms 10 through 18 of my Ph.D.
Read MoreThe first piece about our road trip to the east coast was about what I was leaving behind in California and what I was hoping to find in PA. This piece is an overview of our drive east.
Read MoreA year ago, I signed a contract to write a book for the American Chemical Society. The book is now in production and is set to publish in July!
Read MoreEmailing potential advisors for a fellowship opportunity is super intimidating. When I was writing my first fellowship application, I spent a lot of time searching for how to even write that first email. I had a difficult time finding something useful, so here is an overview of things to think about and what to write so you don’t have to wonder how to write that first email anymore!
Read MoreNSF Graduate Research Fellows submit an Annual Activity Report summarizing how the grantee progressed during the previous year as an NSF fellow. Because the NSF GRFP is federally-funded, I am making it public here to share how my graduate school experience has been impacted by the grant.
Read MoreI’m painting a mural at a public library! In this post, I talk about the project (and how you can contribute to the final design!).
Read MoreThroughout grad school, I’ve learned a lot by imitating. This is especially true for proposal writing. As a parent, I’ve also observed how my son learns through imitating others. He’s picked up on a lot of great things, but he also imitates some of my not-so-great grad school habits too.
Read MoreCheck out some of my writing recently published by Massive Science and Chemical & Engineering News!
Read MoreI hate playing email tag, but trying to schedule meetings always ends up with back-and-forth emails to find a time to meet. In this post, I recommend the program Calendly for lessening the burden of scheduling meetings.
Read MoreSomething I’ve noticed over ten terms of teaching scientific writing is that scientists are usually never taught how to write figure captions. I pulled from my experiences, Write Like a Chemist, and the ACS Style Guide to put together some thoughts and guidelines for writing figure captions.
Read MoreMoving across the country during my fifth year of grad school was not something I expected. The pandemic, needless to say, has changed just about everything. This includes how I approach finishing up my PhD. I thought that when I left Pasadena, CA, it would be as Dr. Olivia Harper Wilkins. I feel somewhat defeated leaving SoCal empty-handed. COVID is pretty good at making us feel defeated. Even so, I am fighting back by driving back to PA to finish up on the East Coast.
Read MoreHow do you make a cloth facemask? Should you even wear one? (Yes, it couldn’t hurt, and it might even help!) Here is a guide to sewing your own mask (and a bonus how-to for a no-sew alternative!).
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