The last month and a half have been the busiest for me in a long while. The last time I posted I had just arrived at what was to be a rather eventful conference in the Arctic, in which most of the conference delegates ended up catching a rather nasty stomach bug! Fortunately I managed to fend it off until the last evening so I also got to do all the good stuff, like taking a snowmobile ride to get a clear view of the Northern Lights, test driving a dog sled and sampling the local food and drink. Several others did plenty of skiing too. I also presented my thesis work for the last time before changing fields.
Since then The Boy and I have relocated to London, near Crystal Palace, into a relatively new build of flats. It's a nice place and we are settling in well, but it was all a little hectic since I was still working at Surrey at the time and desperately trying to get my thesis submitted before I had to start a new job. Unfortunately that didn't happen, but it is close enough.
I also started my postdoc at the LSE this week. I have enjoyed it so far, but it's safe to say I haven't really found my feet in terms of the project yet because my main boss wasn't even around this week, I did meet my other boss though, who is located in another department from me. Everyone I have met seems lovely and the work environment seems pleasant enough, although from what I can gather most people are so busy that they are rarely in their own offices. I'm very excited about the project too, which is part of a large collaboration of multidisciplinary research in climate and statistical modelling as well as people from the impacts community. The aim is to try and develop new ways of delivering risk-based predictions of climate variability and change for decision-makers in industry and government. My role will be within the area of designing informative forecast systems, something which is a pretty challenging but important task. I'm looking forward to it!
As for other news, I was rather disappointed to see the results for the Liberal Democrats in the General Election. There seemed to be such a wave of optimism about what they could achieve this year and after working so hard and spending the last few years laying the groundwork they achieved fewer seats (including the loss of the much loved champion for science Evan Harris), even if more votes, than last time. Still, they are now in a rather important, if not very difficult position and I am happy for them in that respect. I just hope the main parties, as well as the public will treat the situation with maturity.
One thing which I think will be good whatever the outcome over the next few days is that it will give people a real sense of whether or not a more collaborative type of politics can work in this country. I think sensible and mature discussions between all parties, as well compromises over some issues are essential if the case is to be proved for a reform of the voting system to PR, since that system would probably lead more frequently to smaller majorities or hung parliaments in the future. Personally, I hope it can work. I think collaboration on the big issues like the economy and fairness in society could only be good for us.
Music: Don't Blame Me - Thelonious Monk