Published online 16 September 2009
Postdoc journal
Am I still a postdoc or not?
Joanne Isaac
Joanne Isaac was a postdoc in climate-change effects on biodiversity at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. She is now in the United States so that her husband can complete a postdoc.
I'm learning that my career doesn't define me; I define my career.
Our time in California is coming to an end. My husband has finished gathering deformed frogs by the bucket-load, and we are now off to Colorado for the remainder of his postdoc. California has been good to us, but living in a research house for the summer has presented some personal challenges.
One has been accepting my fate as housewife, mom and the only adult non-researcher in the house. While Brett and the PhD students went about their field and lab work, I sat on the sidelines, cooking and cleaning. In my weaker moments I wanted to scream out: "I'm not just a housewife, I'm a postdoc too — and by the way, your analysis is wrong!"
But then I began to wonder: can I still call myself a postdoc? Or am I just clinging to that label to feel better about surrendering my career?
Feverishly trawling the web for definitions, I try to reassure myself. Surely a postdoctoral scientist includes all those who engaged in some sort of research after earning their doctoral degree in science? Alas, to my chagrin, all the definitions point to the fact that, to be a 'postdoc', you actually do have to be employed, working in some type of research.
So I guess I'm not officially a postdoc anymore. But maybe that's OK. Through the peaks and troughs of this chaotic year, I am slowly realizing that my career does not define me. I define my career.
Postdoc Journal Keepers 2009
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Julia BoughnerJulia Boughner is a postdoc in evolutionary developmental biology at the University of Calgary, Canada.
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Bryan VentersBryan Venters is a postdoc in biochemistry and molecular biology at Pennsylvania State University.
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Joanne IsaacJoanne Isaac was a postdoc studying the effect of climate change on biodiversity at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. She is now in the United States so that her husband can complete a postdoc.
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Sam WalcottSam Walcott is a postdoc in theoretical biophysics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
