A Day in the life of Lisa (developmental physiology PhD student & blogger):
I’m Lisa a PhD student in developmental physiology at the University of Southampton, UK. I’m currently in my final year and my research is investigating how maternal diets (high-fat and also vitamin D deficient) during pregnancy impact on the baby’s skeletal muscle development and function in later life.
I’m also a keen science communicator and love writing for my science blog “In a Science World” where I dish out PhD SOS tips and of course, talk science! I also share my journey through science on my Instagram (@lisa_inascienceworld), so take a look to see what I get up to! https://inascienceworldblog.wordpress.com/
I’m out of the lab and in the data analysis/thesis writing stage. So here’s my computer-heavy “day in the life of” from Friday 25th August!
06:46: It’s Friday and the last day of work before the long bank holiday weekend so I’m ready to be super productive. I’m definitely more productive in the morning so I like to be up and working by 8am. Today I’m not on-call for a placenta processing job so I’m enjoying home comforts.
07:03: I always start the day with my protein porridge. As I live in the UK and a lot of scicomm Twitter chat happens US time, there’s always conversations to catch up on when I wake up. Breakfast and social media = a perfect combination!
09:17: Now I’m out of the lab, I’m in the process of re-analysing all of my data with a new statistical model. Here I’m organising a massive batch of PCR data from one of my mouse studies into the correct format for an SPSS data file.
11:01: 11’oclock is always tea break. I’m currently taking part in the #wearestemsquad Instagram photo challenge so I’m just preparing my image for the theme “dreams” to post later on.
11:58: Now my SPSS data file is all ready to go, I’m using the code I’ve written to analyse my PCR data with a multilevel random effects regression model (mouthful!). As I worked with mouse models and I’m looking at the offspring, the model allows me to account for differences in litter size and other “random effect” variables.
13:32: Lunch time and chill. Poached eggs and spinach on toast, so good! I also had another Twitter catch-up whilst eating to see what was being discussed amongst the scicomm community.
14:13: Staring at numbers after numbers on the laptop screen all day makes me get that fuzzy brain feeling so I’m trying to get out for a walk during the working day. I found a park with a beautiful lily pad-filled pond just around the corner from my house, so that’s my new walking destination!
15:23: I’ve been back at the computer analysing more data. Slowly ticking off those daily tasks! Setting myself daily goals really helps me to stay focussed.
16:55: I’m done with statistical analysis for the day. As a side to my PhD I’m currently doing an engagement and science communication internship with my department. Just had a little bit of film editing to finish off so it can get the ‘okay’ to be put out on social media channels!
18:08: It’s CrossFit time! This is where I go after a day’s work to relieve any of those PhD stresses. It keeps me fit and it’s such a sociable community! Today I was just playing around in open gym working on those legs! Squats, lunges, straight-leg deadlift and some other bits and pieces thrown into the mix.
20:54: Friday night food and drinks with my CrossFit girls. Perfect way to end the week and start the three-day weekend! We all train at different times of the day so it’s lovely when we can all get together.
00:32: I’m home, in my pjs and all ready for bed. Looking forward to a day at the beach tomorrow! Night night everyone.
Thanks for sharing your day Lisa, and don’t forget to check out Lisa’s blog.
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