Sarah Flannagan

Lecturer, University of Canterbury

Lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand

The parallels between core yoga principles and my scientific process

Several months ago I completed a 35-hour yoga teacher training class. In following months as I tried to maintain my yoga practice while finishing my doctoral dissertation, I found that several of the core yoga principles were translatable to my scientific process. And applying these principles to my daily scientific life made me feel more productive and focused. 

I am a scientist, but I don’t own a lab coat

I recently read an article that described the stereotypical scientist as an older white male in a white lab coat and goggles, probably holding a test tube of some sort. But this isn't true for all professionals in science. I am a scientist, but I do not own a lab coat, and very rarely wear safety goggles at work. 

The fun challenges of international collaboration!

Collaborating is not always easy – people have different styles, habits, and preferences for just about every stage of a project, from brainstorming ideas to writing up the results in a paper. Add on a layer of cultural and linguistic differences, and you could easily have the opportunity for some major problems! Luckily, I have not run into any problems with my collaborators here in Sweden, although there are some very interesting challenges that I’ve had to face.