Lately, I’ve been pondering over the question ‘what happens if this science thing doesn’t work out’ quite a lot. I never intended to do a PhD, but more or less did so because my MSc internship supervisor told me I should, and I liked working on plants and interactions. I never thought I was smartContinue reading “What’s plan B?”
Monthly Archives: July 2021
I never thought I would ever prefer home office…
Slowly, but steadily, the end now really is in sight! It took a bit of work, and quite some stress, and even some sleepless nights, but we did it. Last week, we harvested our barley greenhouse experiment. Check! This past weekend I planted my first local Freising tansy field experiment – which consists of leftoverContinue reading “I never thought I would ever prefer home office…”
A flower feast
Not much to see here today – except some pictures of the new field experiment. I went out to water the plants this afternoon, and the fields were – quite literally – buzzing with activity. This is the first year that I actively work on this plant species, Tansy, as a model system. (I haveContinue reading “A flower feast”
A silly clown
It’s quite funny how hysterical professional gardeners and greenhouse staff get when they see aphids. I get it, aphids are the devil – that is, when you’re a tomato grower or whatever. I cannot count count the number of times I have been warned about all the horrors that are aphids – as if IContinue reading “A silly clown”
Work on weekends – I try not to make a habit out of this(!)
I have decided that this will be a work weekend. It’s going against my own policy, and I don’t like it. However, with an überpregnant wife, it’s not like we’re going to make a spectacular trip or anything. Instead, we spent a lazy morning on the couch and floor, reading children’s books or playing withContinue reading “Work on weekends – I try not to make a habit out of this(!)”
A good batch!
Today was another amazing(ly long) day filled with Zoom presentations from 9.00 am until 3.30 pm. These were the final presentation of the landscape planning course I co-coördinated this semester with the landscape planners on-campus. I’m responsible for teaching the students a thing or two about ecology, and how landscape planning can be optimized andContinue reading “A good batch!”
Birthday boy
Isn’t it amazing how time flies by? Two years ago Heike and I had just become parents. After a 21-hour struggle, Rafa popped out at 00.54 on the 15th of July, 2019. Ten days earlier than expected. We were quite surprised. Weren’t babies supposed to arrive at their due date? Anyway, the 15th of JulyContinue reading “Birthday boy”
I discovered the root-washing station!
Another ecological experiment was successfully finished today. Oh well, almost. The most important harvest is behind us now. I started my day collecting a shitload of liquid nitrogen at the nitrogen tank (silo? What are these things called?) outside our building. This was done with the purpose of flash-freezing our leaf samples in the greenhouse,Continue reading “I discovered the root-washing station!”
Disclaimer post
Just a short little ‘disclaimer’ post for today. Some days it is better to just sit back, relax, and don’t do too much in the evening hours. Today is one of those. So don’t expect too much from me. (And besides, I have been working all afternoon on writing answers to reviewers, and revising andContinue reading “Disclaimer post”
Teaching vs. Research
I love teaching. I hate teaching. I don’t know. Maybe I haven’t fully made up my mind yet about teaching. What I absolutely love about teaching are the interactions I have with students. Having interactive group sessions, q and a’s, one-on-one sessions with project students that every week can show a little progress. I loveContinue reading “Teaching vs. Research”
Robin Heinen 