Thread: Have just realised it’s the traditional season for journalists & ‘opinion writers’ to trot out their ‘science v religion’ rants. Science is not a religion; if u think it is you’re not a scientist. Scientists are generally not all atheists either. 👇

I once had a chat with a respected & heroic Scottish professor of science (won’t be too specific as I don’t want to share his identity) which turned into a real heart to heart. This man was a personal hero to me.

He was born into extreme poverty as a child in the Gorbals in Glasgow. His dad died when he was 14 & he got a job to support his mother. Later he put himself thru A-Levels & was awarded a scholarship to a famous University. That’s heroic.

His abilities, kindness, understanding & support to colleagues, staff & students was legendary. As were the books & papers he wrote. His campaigning ranged from social issues to conservation. It’s no exaggeration to say he changed his adopted country.

So in the heart to heart, amongst ancient oak bookshelves, I asked him what did he make of ghosts (rather than how I’d ask now - what does the scientific community think of ghosts). Maturity means thinking how you pose questions (& maybe one day I will!).

GHANA’S ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND WHY I KEEP DEFENDING THEM BUT THEY KEEP DISAPPOINTING ME

A thread

Ghana has had 8 general elections under the 4th republic and every election has had its challenges
I must say that, the EC, political parties and other stakeholders have always tried to bring in measures or reforms to make an election and its processes better than the previous

From voting with opaque ballot boxes in 1992 to using voter ID in 2000 to using a biometric system in 2012, the integrity of Ghana’s electoral system has been difficult to undermine or rig

However it seems as someone who has championed the course of the EC and its activities, recent events has me worried and reason I think Ghanaians must ask for the right and legal things to be done to protect the sovereign will of the people

I had never trusted election figures until 2012 and these are my reasons; From 1992-2008, the electoral system had frailties that could be manipulated to the advantage of one party
There were reported cases of over-voting, multiple voting and others not on the register voting

It has been some time since I reclaimed my title. I had dropped it when I moved industries but after seeing the sexism I meet, I decided to use it at least to give them a hint to step back or pause before one utters another BS to me.

Sexism in this 👇🏾 column and the fact that it passed through the editor and got published tells how much more fight I have to continue fighting.

Glad to be in good company, Dr. Jill

I had to write a chapter on what is interferometry as it was a new field and my research was assessing the data derived from interferometric processing of radar data for the purpose of generating 3D terrain and how good we can expect them to be 😀

Kids checking for “English mistakes”

Couldn’t help but look at my prof’s third edition which included a chapter on interferometry after & based on my research to look for acknowledgement - he had mentioned all PhD students “for good nature”. He sent me a signed copy to let me know of that chapter.