By writing this blog I hope you will see that being a scientist is not about being the smartest person in the room, and that you can be a scientist and still love TV, gin and cake.
I hope that we can journey together and collaborate. Science is made not just by scientists but by all of us working together to make the world a better place.
As posts disappear from the ‘Recent Blog Page’ over time, here is a list of (and links to) all of my posts so far:
Posts from July 2025
Guest Blog by Dr Claire Walker: Microbial Culture – An Immunologist’s Side Project Gone Wild 18th July
Candidozyma auris the New Kid on the Fungal Block: What is it and why should we care? 11th July
Guest Blog by Dr Sam Watkins: The wild world of mycotoxins, maybe not such a fun-gi 4th July
Posts from June 2025
Guest Blog from Anthony De Souza: What We Don’t Always Say – A Reflection on Microaggressions 27th June
Posts from May 2025
Finding the Positives: Ten reasons why I am still grateful, even for the bad days 30th May
World DNA Day Book Review: Talking DNA editing in Upgrade by Blake Crouch 16th May
World DNA Day Book Review: Discussing the science behind The One by John Marrs 9th May
Posts from April 2025
It Was the Best of Times. It Was the Worst of Times: 10 years on and how different the world is now 21st April
Posts from March 2025
Posts from February 2025
Sorry, Not Sorry: The challenges of being an anxious apologiser 28th February
Leadership: In the words of Wicked ‘It’s All About Popular’, or is it? 21st February
Realising the World Isn’t All About You: Understanding the Spotlight Effect and how it can impact perception and response 17th February
Posts from January 2025
Tis the Season to Talk Noro: What is norovirus and why does it cause such issues? 20th January
Going Macro on Micro: Honouring Dr Simon Doherty and collecting all the episode links in one place 13th January
I’m Still Learning After All These Years: My focus in 2025 is to continue my personal development journey 6th January
Posts from December 2024
Merry Christmas One and All 25th December
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Why I love the festive season and all that comes with it 20th December
Paralysed by Career Indecision? My top tips for career development after a PhD 13th December
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! A flash back in time to re-visit my zoological science origin story 2nd December
Posts from November 2024
Let’s Talk Antimicrobial Resistance for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) 2024 23rd November
Let’s Talk Con Fear: Talking about social anxiety at conferences and events 19th November
Posts from October 2024
Hold on Tight Its Going to Be a Bumpy Ride: The truth about my journey from trainee to consultant 25th October
Posts from September 2024
When is setting a goal, not a goal? When it’s an unattainable burden: Talking about making goals useful and fit for purpose 16th September
Environment Network 2024: Environmental risk assessment what do we need to know? 6th September
Posts from August 2024
Tales of a Recovering Workaholic: Talking about the darker side of success 27th August
Understanding the Scope of Our Influence: Why we have to stop trying to ‘fix’ everything 5th August
Posts from July 2024
Posts from June 2024
PhD Top Tips on Managing Your Supervisors: Love em or hate em, there’s no completion without them 18th June
Healthcare Science Education 2024: Embracing Your Authenticity 10th June
Posts from May 2024
Don’t Hang on Too Tightly: Having enough faith in yourself to know there will always be another idea 31st May
PhD Top Tips: What do you need to think about when applying for a PhD? 17th May
We Lift by Raising Others: Why we should all get our nomination heads on 3rd May
Posts from April 2024
Reputation is Everything: Why reputation matters & how reputational attacks can create shock waves 19th April
Book Review: Bad Blood by John Carreyrou – talking science and the Theranos scandal 1st April
Posts from March 2024
Stepping Into Leadership: What becoming a senior leader actually means 25th March
Handling Criticism with Grace: Top tips for responding to reviewers’ comments 8th March
One Year On: What has making professor actually meant for my day to day 4th March
Posts from February 2024
How Do You Become a Scientist and Other Career Day Questions: Some info to help in your scientific career journey 19th February
It’s All in the Preparation: My top ten tips to help prepare for your conference presentation 16th February
Posts from January 2024
Me and My Bathroom: Being an adult scientist has way more to do with bathrooms than I’d expected 29th January
My (possible) Mid-Life Crisis and Me 2023 Edition: Entering 2024 has left me questioning….have I peaked at 44? 19th January
An Uninvited Guest: Food Poisoning and Foodborne outbreaks, who are the villains of the piece? 16th January
Posts from December 2023
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: Why I love the BMJ Christmas articles and links to my favourites! 28th December
A DINK Household: Embracing a life with no kids, no guilt, only joy 20th December
A Shout Out to My Girls: This one is for all the women that support others & see them as inspiration not competition 11th December
Posts from November 2023
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2023: Thinking differently about ‘Super Wicked’ problems 30th November
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try: Why seeking external validation will never be enough 20th November
Guest Blog from Sam Watkin: Researcher in a clinical space 10th November
An Unexpected Absence and Why It’s OK to Not Be OK 6th November
Posts from October 2023
I was languishing in bed with SARS CoV2 in October and so sadly there were no blog posts this month
Posts from September 2023
The Power of Celebration: Why we should see celebration as essential and not a selfish act 29th September
Methods for Dealing with Rejection: Remembering there is a difference between ‘that wasn’t for me/us’ and ‘oh that’s bad’ 22nd September
A Thank You Shout Out to the Enablers: The people who help get things done but are often invisible 15th September
An Unexpected Journey: My foray into writing a non-fiction book, all constructive feedback appreciated 11th September
Posts from August 2023
Guest Blog Joanna Ward by: A year in the life of an MBio student 25th August
The Oliver Surrounded by Estellas: Training as the person who doesn’t have a financial float 18th August
Clarity of Role and Its Impact: Why knowing and being clear about your professional boundaries matters 11th August
Holding the Line: What it feels like to be seen as the ‘Big Bad I Said NO!’ 4th August
Posts from July 2023
The PhD Edit: Links to some of the Girlymicro posts that may help PhD students 31st July
PhD Top Tips: Finding the inspiration to develop your research question 28th July
PhD Top Tips: Write a thesis they said, but not like this they said 21st July
PhD Top Tips: How to carry on when the experiment you’re doing just feels cursed 14th July
PhD Top Tips: So you’ve decided you want to start a PhD 7th July
Posts from June 2023
Would You Like That Explained in Words of One Syllable? Thriving in the world of a mansplainer 26th June
Talking About the Taboos: My experience of informed consent and organ donation 12th June
Posts from May 2023
Conference Season is Upon Us: My top tips for conference presentations 25th May
Learning to Take Your Place: The path to owning the space you find yourself in 19th May
Just One More Block: Sometimes, the Only Way is Through 4th May
Posts from April 2023
The Paths that Made Us: Learning to be grateful for the moments that made us who we are 14th April
Posts from March 2023
Learning to Live in the Grey: Moving back to a risk assessment based approach for IPC 10th March
You Spin Me Right Round Baby, Right Round: Getting through the day when it’s all a bit too much 6th March
Posts from February 2023
Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Why decision-making linked to projects and roles requires us to flex as we grow 27th February
Developing the Courage to Stand Tall: Time to ignore the fear and realise it’s OK to stand out 17th February
Pinching Myself Again: Switching out Dr for Professor 13th February
Guest Blog by Lilian Chiwera: Surgical site infection prevention day initiatives – making change now to help tomorrow 3rd February
Posts from January 2023
I Keep Running Up That Hill: Why is it that the email mountain never gets any smaller? 27th January
The Sound of Deadlines Rushing Past: Surviving in a world where deadlines are constant and there’s never enough time 13th January
Welcome to 2023: Here’s a toast to being open to the unexpected in the 12 months ahead 4th January
Posts from December 2022
Farewell 2022: Looking back and reflecting on how we can be our own most unreliable witness 31st December
Merry Christmas, One and All 25th December
It’s Not All Bad in the World of Infection Prevention and Control: The most wonderful time of the year is approaching! 22nd December
Guest Blog by Phillipa Burns: Part 2, the view from the finish line 19th December
Mouth Open Should Be Shut: My challenges with openly contributing to meetings and the fear of oversharing 16th December
IPC on Tour: Reflections from the big apple 12th December
Guest Blog by Karen Barclay-Elliott: Life, the universe and surviving FRCPath part 1 2nd December
Posts from November 2022
Your Wish is My Demand: Here are some of my tips for sitting MRCPath in Micro/Viro 29th November
The Trials and Tribulations of High Stakes Assessments: How I still remember everything about FRCPath 25th November
Am I a Writer Yet? Two years in, over 100 posts and finally finding my feet 17th November
Guest Blog from Daniel Nash: Placements make the world go round – why placements are so important for HCS students 4th November
Posts from October 2022
Changing of the Guard: When your mentor leaves and you have very large shoes to fill 28th October
You Can’t Be Liked by Everyone: Embracing the inevitability of not being everyone’s cup of tea 17th October
Speaking Truth to Power: Learning the hard truth of when science and politics collide 10th October
Clothes Maketh the Man or Do They? Why I want my clothes to show me, not some version of who I should be 4th October
Posts from September 2022
Clarity is Key: The role of learning agreements in supporting learner success 28th September
Happy but Struggling: Welcome to my third year of the SARS CoV2 pandemic 23rd September
Surviving Your Viva: My top 10 tips for oral exams 16th September
Guest Blog: Claire and Sam take over the Environment Network 9th September
More Than the Sum of Our Grades: Why academic success only tells part of the story 2nd September
Posts from August 2022
Stepping Up and Stepping Out: Making the shift into a senior role 19th August
Keeping Up With the Joneses: The dangers of benchmarking success against social media 15th August
The Power of Winning: Why I think the reason you are playing the game is as important as the outcome 10th August
Posts from July 2022
Delving Into Risk Assessment: Thoughts on how to develop tools that may guide your thinking 25th July
Environmental Matters: Why are environmental risk assessments so tricky? 18th July
The Second Year Slump: understanding the ups and downs of doing a PhD 4th July
Posts from June 2022
You Can’t Please Everyone: Why I try to remember the rule of thirds 28th June
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a Trust Lead Healthcare Scientist? 26th June
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical microbiologist? 25th June
Guest Blog from Anthony De Souza: From lab to educator, finding a new direction 24th June
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical academic? 22nd June
Guest Blog Dr Claire Walker: The Clinical Academic Path – From the Lab to the Lectern 20th June
Responding With Grace: The art of learning to take a complement 6th June
Daring to Be Imperfect: Celebrating the joys of imperfection 4th June
Posts from May 2022
Wearing My Quitter Badge With Pride: Why FOMO can damage your health 23rd May
If Not You Then Who? Why seizing the opportunities that come your way is so important 6th May
Conference Season Is Upon Us: Top tips for anyone who struggles with networking 2nd May
FRCPath Notes: Some notes on organism identification and antimicrobials in case useful for others 2nd May
Posts from April 2022
Girlymicro’s 100th Post: What I’ve learnt in my 1st year as a consultant 4th April
Posts from March 2022
Prioritising the Needs of the Many: Great communicators let the message do the talking 31st March
I’m Not Lucky, I’m a Badass: The importance of owning your success 14th March
How Do We Stop, When the Person We Are Competing Against is Ourselves? 6th March
Posts from February 2022
I Rarely ‘Feel’ Well: Let’s talk about health privilege in the time of COVID-19 and why SARS CoV2 solutions are not ‘simple’ 20th February
When Heroes Fall: How the intersection between fandom and public health can change who you root for 13th February
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day: A view from the Girly Side 11th February
Guest Blog by Katy Heaney: Pathology: hidden service or hiding? Lets stop being shy 7th February
Posts from January 2022
Guest Blog by Nicola Baldwin: Where Is Everybody? Patient and public involvement in the time of pandemic 30th January
Guest Blog from Sam Watkin: Starting a PhD in a Pandemic 17th January
50 Shades of Grey: The realities of working in Infection Prevention and Control 10th January
Turning a Day Dream into a Reality: Trying out a technique to make concrete steps towards a secret ambition 3rd January
Girlymicro 2021: A Year in Review 1st January
Posts from December 2021
Time for Some Real Talk: I have the best job in the world & even I don’t know how much more I can take 13th December
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?: My month spent with shingles and the Varicella Zoster virus 11th December
Posts from November 2021
Changing Our Pathways: What are T-Levels and why should I care about them? 23rd November
Guest Book Review by Dr Julie Winnard: How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners Lee 17th November
Guest Book Review by Dr Claire Walker: Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy 12th November
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical microbiologist? 4th November
Posts from October 2021
Saturday Morning Zombies: how infection is portrayed in the genre 30th October
Some Days All We Control Is Ourselves: How to respond when things don’t go to plan 28th October
Lets Talk About Wellness: Is it just me whose struggling to engage with wellness programmes? 22nd October
Laboratory Testing for SARS CoV2 (COVID-19): Is all testing the same and why should I care? 16th October
Happy Birthday Girlymicrobiologist Blog: One year on what I have learnt about writing a blog? 11th October
Healthcare Science Education 2021: Innovation in Education 5th October
Embarking on My 17th Year as a Healthcare Scientist: What have I learnt? 3rd October
Posts from September 2021
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Top tips I’ve learnt over 20 years of event organising 23rd September
Guest Blog Dr Claire Walker: From academia to the bench, and back again. An immunologists journey 16th September
What I Did On My Holidays: Or the benefits of taking some away from it all 10th September
Keeping Things in Perspective: My attempt at seeing the glass as half full with a list of pandemic positives 4th September
Posts from August 2021
Knowing Your Why: Why I’m passionate about how we talk with our paediatric patients 29th August
Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was a Trainee: My top ten tips for making the most of your journey 28th August
Fulfilling A Promise: Why we need to talk about whether we are actually delivering on patient centred care 11th August
Hello Shame Spiral, My Old Friend: The warning signs that I need rest and space to reflect 6th August
Posts from July 2021
Coming to Terms With Not Being Superwoman: My turbulent journey towards work life balance July 31st
Just One More Sleep: Why ‘Freedom Day’ doesn’t feel like Christmas to those in infection prevention July 18th
It’s Time to Talk About the F Word……. Not that F word. We need to talk about failure July 14th
What’s Your Get Psyched Mix? How I use music to support my work July 9th
Posts from June 2021
Guest Blog by Dr Claire Walker: My top 3 reasons for picking immunology June 18th
Posts from May 2021
What Is Antimicrobial Resistance and What Might It Mean for Me? May 31st
Dealing with Writer’s Block: How I write When it’s the Last Thing I Want to Do May 15th
Posts from April 2021
Guest Book Review by John Dodd: The Science of Storytelling April 17th
Talking About the Taboos: What Its Like to Be Childless in Your 30s and 40s April 8th
Laboratory Testing for SARS CoV2 (COVID-19): Is all testing the same and why should I care? April 3rd
Posts from March 2021
Why I Think You Should Say Yes to New Experiences (and my foray into life drawing) March 27th
Guest Book Review by Dr Claire Walker: Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood March 26th
I Asked Twitter for Interview Tips and These are Some of the Great Responses I Received! March 20th
Celebrating Mothers Day by Talking About How My Mum Has Contributed to the World of Science March 14th
It’s Recruitment Season in Healthcare Science and Academia: What have I learnt which might help March 8th
My Best Science Comes from a Cup of Tea: My top tip for Healthcare Science Week March 7th
Planned Events for Healthcare Science Week 2021: Join us if you’re three or ninety three March 1st
Posts from February 2021
The Fear of Next Steps: Should I stay or should I go now February 19th
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day: A view from the Girly side February 11th
The Things I Love Best About Working in Infection Prevention and Control February 9th
Guest Blog by Dr Steve Cross: The Science of Space February 5th
Posts from January 2021
Call for Lay Members to Support the Healthcare Infection Society – Contact us to find out more! January 28th
We Are All in the Same Storm but are Existing in Very Different Boats January 25th
Guest Blog by Dr Claire Walker: A clinical immunologists thoughts on lateral flow antibody testing for SARS CoV2 January 23rd
Book Review: What I Love About the Science in the Newsflesh Series by Mira Grant January 23rd
Posts from December 2020
Dr Cloutman-Green B.E.M. Who thought things like this could happen to someone as normal as me (hint, not I) December 31st
Dreams in the Time of COVID-19: Science meets art December 30th
My Sunday Afternoon Rage – The mask goes over the nose people! December 29th
I Passed my PhD 6 Years Ago This Week: what tips do I have for those who are in the process December 12th
What Is Antimicrobial Resistance and What Might It Mean for Me December 4th
A Short Post Written for my Facebook Friends on the Welcome News of the Approval of a SARS CoV2 Vaccine December 4th
Musings for my Facebook Friends on SARS CoV2 Testing December 4th
Posts from November 2020
Awards Season is Almost Over – Not Quite the Oscars but Still….. November 27th
The Nosocomial Project November 25th
Why I Think It’s Important to Talk About Failure (and other stories of imposter syndrome) November 20th
Saturday Morning Zombies: how infection is portrayed in the genre November 6th
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical microbiologist? November 4th
Remember, Remember: See the play, read the script and do the activities here! November 2nd
Posts from October 2020
Quality Control in Scientific Publishing – what is it actually like to review papers? October 30th
A Week With Antimicrobial Resistance on My Mind October 30th
Remember Remember. Step back in time to save the King October 27th
A Starter for 10 on Antimicrobials October 16th
Science Communication: Reflections from an Ivory Tower October 15th
Adventures in Science Communication – stand up comedy edition October 12th
Writing and Publishing Scientific Papers – Is it as hard as it seems? October 11th
Why Have I Waited 5 Years? October 11th
Posts from Before October 2020
Hello World April 5th 2015
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Girlymicro 