Milk, guilt, and turtles

Expectation: Leaving my smiling baby each morning to have a perfect day tracking turtles in the field with one private and sterile 10-minute break to pump out my liquid gold. Reality: Leaving my stinky (but still smiling) baby each morning, filled with milk and guilt. During the day, tracking some turtles but spending a fair …

What James Bay taught me about balancing kids and fieldwork

This week we have a story from Dr. Constance O'Connor, a conservation scientist with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, which describes how she felt when she was faced with how to manage field work while she was expecting:     Sitting on the edge of the plushy couch in my midwives’ office, I took a deep …

I had a miscarriage during field work

Today, we are hearing about something that happens so often to women, and to women in the field, but for some reason, our society doesn't seem to want to talk about.  Here is Sanja Hakala's experience with miscarrying a baby while working in the field. Once during an intensive two week field gig I had …

Another tale of (re)productive fieldwork

This week's tale is another data point about being pregnant in the field as a graduate student, complete with some excellent advice for mentors and mentees! I'm excited we have two featured on the blog so far, and can't wait for the time when we will have enough to compile a book or something.  Until, …

A (Re)productive Master’s

There are a ton of reproductive field scientists out there. Especially during graduate school that requires field work, it can feel isolating and lonely, because few other students are parents. However, there are some hopeful stories out there about women who did manage to maintain field work while pregnant and/or while parenting young children. Here …

International travel/field work while breastfeeding – A mommy’s tale

I am excited to share for my first post for this blog, a tale of my experience traveling for field work internationally while still breastfeeding. In short, it’s complicated, harrowing, and sometimes mortifying. In long: I have two girls, aged 7.5 and 3.5 (that half is CRITICAL to both of their identities so don’t you …