Author Archives: Chris Rowan

Write for Nature in 2008

I’ve just been finishing off my final piece for the Nature Post-doc Journal, and it occurred to me that they’re probably looking for people to replace me next year. Sure enough, they are: The Postdoc Journal gives four postdoctoral fellows … Continue reading

Categories: bloggery, public science

A presidential science debate?

It’s a curious state of 21st century affairs when a person’s suitability for leading the world’s most powerful nation hinges more on whether they mouth the right Christian platitudes than on whether they understand the difference between a Bronze age … Continue reading

Categories: public science

Two new doctors in the blogging house

Congratulations to Brian and MarkH, who have both just successfully defended their PhD theses*. It’s interesting how the process of getting a PhD differs in different countries. As Mark explains in his post, in the US you don’t start with … Continue reading

Categories: academic life

AGU? Bah, humbug

Anyone who has noticed my latest Nature column will be aware that I have had to forgo the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco for yet another year. I suppose I can feel virtuous about not ramping up my already … Continue reading

Categories: academic life, ranting

Pictures from an undersea eruption

Mid-ocean ridges are a fundamental component of the Earth’s tectonic engine: they mark places on the earth’s surface where two plates are moving apart, creating space for mantle rocks to move upwards, decompress, and melt. Every year, the resulting volcanic … Continue reading

Categories: geology, tectonics, volcanoes