We had woken up early that Sunday morning in October, as we often did when we would go out fishing. We were just kids, but dreamed big about catching the biggest fish. On our bikes we were always out and about, our fishing rods tied to our backs. That morning we decided to stay closeContinue reading “Floating garbage”
Monthly Archives: February 2021
Oh no you can’t
I have had some excellent mentors during my education and academic lifetime. Mentors have helped me through the darkest moments, and helped me excel in the good. Many of them I am still in touch with, either regularly as friends or collaborators (and often both), or sometimes less regularly, for instance through scientific or careerContinue reading “Oh no you can’t”
The cancer core
Most of my high school teachers hated my guts. My mathematics teacher was profoundly clear about this. He systematically refused to answer my questions. I struggled understanding stuff without a context. He never provided any. I had no clue (at the time) what hypothesis testing meant. Where I’m from we didn’t talk hypotheses at theContinue reading “The cancer core”
You had one job…
You know what I miss? Time to simply just sit down and focus deeply. I cannot remember the last time when I had an empty day in my schedule and I could just sit down and work on one aspect of the job for a couple of hours uninterrupted. For instance, for two months IContinue reading “You had one job…”
Targets
During my weekend plant care at university I often listen to podcasts. This morning, I listened to an interview with Jerry Seinfeld on his work practices developed throughout his career. He seems to agree with me that if writing is part of what you do, you should practice it regularly. His advice? Aim for aContinue reading “Targets”
Germany you should – a series (part 2)
If I had to name one thing that is worse in Germany than anywhere else, then Pommes would unequivocally take the first prize. Congrats Pommes, you really are Scheiße. Potato fries… I’ve always had bad experiences with German potato fries, regardless of where I ate them in Germany. My wife is German, from the EiffelContinue reading “Germany you should – a series (part 2)”
Like father, like son
I’m one of these people that really REALLY cannot hide their opinion of things around them – good or bad. My facial expressions are pretty strong, and I think it is hard for me to hide those. Especially, joy and disgust are easy to read off my face, but when I’m confused about something, myContinue reading “Like father, like son”
Ecology is everywhere*
My wife and I share quite a bunch of passions, but hardly any is as deep as our love for Lays’ crisps. We just emptied a bag, and we were both super satisfied. The reason we can thrive in the same household is ecology. There is a rule that under finite resources (a bag ofContinue reading “Ecology is everywhere*”
Student teachers
Today was the closing session of the Terrestrial Ecology Group’s Biodiversity course. Our course was given entirely online, and we never met the students in person. A challenge. We uploaded weekly asynchronous lectures (most of them by my colleague), combined with synchronous paper seminars. During these seminar sessions we discussed one or more papers onContinue reading “Student teachers”
The horror child…
I had a conversation with my wife the other day – about how horrible kids get in their puberty. I claimed that I had never been so extreme, that I had had only a few weird ticks that were a bit off-putting, but that they were ‘not so bad’. My puberty years, all the wayContinue reading “The horror child…”
Robin Heinen 