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Notes on giving effective presentations
At the MRS Spring meeting, I went to a session on how to give a scientific presentation by consultant Tim Miller, which I found quite valuable. Here's a summary of my notes from that session.
He gave six tips that he called a "first approximation" to the right way to give a talk. They were:- Stand still
- Face the audience
- Make eye contact
- Speak ( Read more... )
- Stand still
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(Untitled)
A few weeks back, I promised some notes about a presentation on integrating renewable power into the grid. Here is a summarized version of my notes. Hopefully you will find it interesting. Since it is just a summary of my notes, let me know if there's anything that doesn't make sense ( Read more... ) -
Notes on "Mothers on the Fast Track"
This book takes a look at the state of women, particularly women with children, in "fast track" careers: academics, medicine, journalism, law, corporate management, and politics. Mary Ann Mason has been studying these issues for many years, and has helped make the UC system much more family-friendly. She gave a talk during a "women's breakfast" at ( Read more... ) -
I know what I have to do...
It's a little late for a new year resolution post, but I realized I'd better write this down somewhere semi-public. I don't have a big exciting resolution this year, but I want to make sure I do all the boring little things that (I've learned from experience) make my life run more smoothly ( Read more... ) -
Interview meme
Trevor asked me some very interesting questions, which I answered below. If you'd like me to interview you, leave a comment to that effect and I'll ask you some questions.
1. What's the most striking difference in Boulder today compared to when you were in high school?The development out on North Broadway makes me do a little mental double-take ( Read more... ) -
Review: listening to Radiolab with a migrane
Good: Engaging enough to take your mind off feeling bad without being able to see, no need to look at nausea-inducing bright screen ( Read more... ) -
Learning to work productively
I'm trying to learn how to work at a high but sustainable rate. My current goal is to do focused work for 10 hours a day during the week. This is far more productive than being at work all day, but spending a lot of it procrastinating. And it helps focus both my work and non-work time onto what's important. For instance, by taking a long lunch with ( Read more... ) -
Swimming goals
Now that I've been to a few master swim classes, I have some goals for the semester ( Read more... ) -
Masters swim class
Since this was the first week of classes, all rec center classes were free, so that people can try them out. I went to masters swim on Wednesday and Friday mornings, and I definitely will be signing up for it for the rest of the semester. My current exercise plan is to do a bike ride on Monday, swim Wednesday and Friday, and do some fun athletic ( Read more... ) -
A confession
When I'm working by myself and I get stuck, the best way to get unstuck is to pretend I'm in some Star Trek scenario. Like, I'm trapped on an enemy moon and everyone else is obliviously partying on the Enterprise, and I have to characterize the sample before the virus kills us all. Then I can usually figure out what to try next.