So, it’s been awhile since I wrote a new blog post. I’ve
been very busy in the lab and at home since I last wrote. My first paper of my
PhD was published at PLoS One in the spring, and just after my paper came out I
advanced to candidacy in my PhD program. I attended both the Canadian Society
of Immunology and the Canadian Association of HIV Research conferences, and
many people were interested in the humanized mice, which I have just started
making. I also have been working at a biotech company through the
MITACS-Accelerate program. I’m looking into extending my biotech intership for
at least another 6 months, and am taking on a TA-ship for the fall. I’ve also
taken my first trip to Europe (it was only 10 years in the making) and am now
planning my wedding for spring next year!
I’ve been thinking about this blog recently and what I
wanted it to be about. I’ve decided to stick with my interests, but it won’t
just be about science and cupcaking anymore. As I am trying to get back into my
old hobbies and develop new ones, the blog will range from cool science papers,
book reviews, recipes, and anything else that I think is amazing.
Since I am going to be married soon, I have been thinking a
lot about what name I will use after I am married. All my non-scientist friends
that have recently married have just hyphenated their last name, but I have
never been a fan of hyphenated names – and my last name and my fiancé’s last
name don’t really sound good together. I feel like there is a huge pressure on
women in science to keep their name after marriage. A large number of the
female students in my program are married, and all of them have kept their
name. As a young scientist trying to establish a career, I can understand the
desire to have all your accomplishments linked to one name, that having to list
2 names on your CV may be a disadvantage, and to wonder what would happen in
the event your marriage fails. It does make me feel bad to consider what will
happen if my fiancé and I divorce someday, especially given that we haven’t
even married yet, but this name issue is occurring during the time when I am
starting to establish my career, and whatever name I pick will be the one I
firmly establish myself with. I have published 2 papers and a video protocol
with my maiden name. Is that enough to justify keeping it? It means a lot to my
husband that I take his name – is that enough to justify changing it? Should I
add his name to the end of mine (no hyphen) and use my maiden name for science,
my married name personally? Will that be too confusing? And then I turn to
PubMed to input both my maiden and married name. Although neither last name is
common, 241 results come up for my maiden name, exactly 3 of which are actually
mine. My paper from June 2013 has already been bumped to #2, following a the publication of a newer paper by a "name twin" and my paper from
2012 is #8. I may get lost in among the other Farr,C_’s. A quick search of my
married name reveals a grand total of 3 papers – none of which have an author
with the same initials, just the same last name. Is this the way to go? Will I
be looked down upon for changing my name upon marriage? Or will the uniqueness
of my new name be a benefit for the future? Does PubMed searchability even
matter when trying to establish a career? And, do I really want to give up my
spot in alphabetical order from the early start to the very end? :P
CF or CZ or CFZ
