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the radical botanical

a science blog: intersectional science, disability discussion, playing with plants

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Check here for interviews with my other PhD and ECR peers about their research in a few weeks!

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the radical botanical is a science communication blog: giving a voice to intersectional scientists, sharing plant science, and discussing disability. created and curated by phd student emily may armstrong.

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having an amazing time in Berlin & no, I don't want to come home. taking three weeks 1/2 holiday was the best move for my mental health. I took two weeks where I just went in for two hours a day to do maintenance protocols, like floral dipping or cloning or harvesting plant material - nothing that took over 3h a day. I'm now spending the last week in Berlin with some of my closest friends being silly, exploring, relaxing + nothing thinking about my phd at all. here are a few photos I've taken, I've fallen out of photography the past few months but I'm excited to be motivated enough to have a go again! 🇩🇪🌿💕💫🤘

same genotype, same media bottle, same pack of plates, same seed sterilisation solution, but the plants on the left hand side didn't produce any lateral (or side) roots at all. I have no idea either - even the media weights are the same. I grow plants in #sterile conditions when I need to use them for molecular work, like #RNA, #DNA and cloning. Back in the lab after two weeks off, but going to #Berlin next week - if you have any suggestions on what to do - let me know! 🌱🌿🇩🇪 • • #plantscience #plant #plantbiology #biology #sterile #genetics #instaplant #instabiology #phd #postgrad #scicomm #outreach #communication #STEM

the past two months in the lab have been non-stop! I've been performing #chromatin immunoprecipitation on three different #arabidopsis lines for qPCRs to see how much #DNA is bound to a specific #histone modification. I've also been training a technician to help with a very complicated protocol called INTACT (or isolation of nuclei tagged in specific cell types). This protocol allows recovery of nuclei (so I can get at the chromatin inside) with a magnet system. my nuclei (shown here in blue using a nuclear stain in a confocal microscope) are covered in biotin, which has a very strong affinity for strepdavidin. the black beads are coated in strepdavidin and are magnetic. when we pass the bead-bound nuclei through a magnet, we collect them and can check that our purification has been successful. you can check our magnetic rack set up in the second photo. it's a tough protocol - we have to do everything at 4°C! I've also successfully supervised my 7th & 8th MSc students through their final lab project - it's been a busy summer! #biology #genetics #plants #chip #epigenetics #plantscience #instascience #plantbiology #stressbiology #outreach #scicomm #PCR #science #PhD #womeninSTEM #disabledandSTEM #confocal #DAPI #microscopy

NEW ! BLOG! POST! wondering where I've been for the past few weeks? Check the link in my bio for a full update of all the academic stuff ive been up to (conferences, outreach, disability liberation, graduation, publishing, & grant applying) #science #scienceblog #university #genetics #plantscience #biology #publishing #graduation #blog #sciencecommunication #scicomm #communication #outreach #disability #disabledandSTEM #queerscience

I graduated! (Two weeks ago...) from @uofglasgow, finally! My master's by research was the hardest year of my life. I lost the use of both of my legs (& got them back again), lost all my confidence in my research and abilities (& got them back again). It was an uphill battle but I got there eventually. v grateful for all the support, friendship, and stupidity I experienced along the way. // I got through to the final round of The British federation of Women Graduates PhD student grant competition, wish me luck! #graduation #genetics #bioscience #uofggrad #grad18 #msc #res

haven't posted anything personal on here for a while SO here's a bad hotel mirror selfie. in the past two weeks I've given two talks at the most prestigious conference in my field in the states (+ 4h poster sessions). I won my uni's biggest science outreach competition. I presented a framework for restructuring research around disability in science at a sold-out disability & diversity day. I officially received my master's degree (& I graduate next week). I got my first co-authored paper published in a top plant science journal. Six months ago I couldn't leave my house without having a panic attack or flashbacks. I'm feeling v thankful for the incredible support network I have in glasgow, and excited to see what the rest of this year brings (a rest, hopefully.)

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