Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🧑‍🔬
@edrabek.bsky.social
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Scientist. PhD researcher in brain imaging. Ex-Astrophysicist & Emeritus Astronomer. #BiInSci Views are mine. they/she/dr
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edrabek.bsky.social
Hello world! Thought I would give Bluesky a go. I'm Emily, a British-American scientist. I'm an ex-astrophysicist (observational star + planet formation) and a final year PhD candidate in Medical Imaging at UCL, focusing on white matter injury in paediatric brain tumour patients using diffusion MRI.
edrabek.bsky.social
I did a similar thing tonight, but with Ritz crackers (not quite as decadent). My British husband thinks I'm insane, but there is still something so American in me that thinks chilli should be soup and, therefore, eaten with crackers. I'll try crisps next time, sounds divine!
edrabek.bsky.social
Yeah, it isn't a feature every MRI setup has unfortunately. I've had scans without films or music, they can be loud and uncomfortable! We are lucky with our research scanner. :)
edrabek.bsky.social
What a day. Had 5 meetings, met some new students for potential projects, finally got a p-value of 0.001(!!!) in an analysis, and now I get to lie in a MRI scanner and watch a film for an hour. Science! #MRI #PhD #Research #PerfectDay #IShouldBeWritingMyThesis 🧑‍🔬🧠⚛️🩻🧪
a woman is laying in a hospital bed with the words " lay still please " written above her
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edrabek.bsky.social
Well, good deed of the day accomplished. Found a chunky black moth trapped in my office. I managed to coax him outside to enjoy the lovely Autumn day here in London. Maybe I'm overly sentimental, but it was such a nice feeling watching him break free. 🖤🦋🍂☀️
edrabek.bsky.social
I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now.

Seriously though, I'm doing my final analysis after collating ~1300 visual measurements and processings/analysing ~500 MRI scans! 🥴😵‍💫⚛️🧑‍🔬🧠🩻📚🧪 #PhD #PhDThesis #Dissertation #Science

One day, I'll be done. 🥲😅
edrabek.bsky.social
It’s #Caturday! Here are my evil little babies. 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛ A rare moment when Hermes and Hades are tolerating one another.
edrabek.bsky.social
This is another form of ID the UK govt is proposing, with no information about what data will be logged, where it will be stored, or how this is going to 'tackle immigration'. As an immigrant, I've always had to prove my status when applying for jobs by showing govt documents. This is unnecessary.
Reposted by Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🧑‍🔬
edrabek.bsky.social
*virtual hug* I empathise, but I also hope you feel better.
edrabek.bsky.social
Last week, I was off on holiday exploring Germany and Belgium by train! Now, I'm back to analyses and thesis writing. I'm already missing Oktoberfest 🍻 and Belgian waffles with speculoos 🧇 ! #PhD #PhDthesis #Science #Holiday #Belgium #Germany
A smiling lady in sunny Brussels.
edrabek.bsky.social
A part of me will always remain on Esplanade Ave, where I used to live. I’ll forever be grateful to this city for teaching me resilience, joy, and community. My heart is with New Orleans, and with everyone who remembers, mourns and rebuilds. #Katrina20 7/7
edrabek.bsky.social
I fought very hard to move back to New Orleans in January 2006. It was important for me to be a small part of rebuilding the city that I loved. My time in New Orleans has forever shaped the person I am today. The music, the food, the dancing, the history, the freedom of spirit. 6/7
edrabek.bsky.social
I was 18 years old and I didn't know what would happen. The first week was horrible; watching the news all day and night, worrying about my friends and people I loved who stayed in New Orleans. I was lucky to be able to evacuate, and it was hard to comprehend what was happening. 5/7
edrabek.bsky.social
The airport was chaotic; flights were being cancelled, people were crying. By the time I boarded my flight, it was one of the last out of the city. The remaining sunlight had been snuffed out by the storm. I sat on the plane, feeling like my plans for university were destroyed. 4/7
edrabek.bsky.social
I had about 15 minutes to throw documents and my phone into a backpack and run to St Charles Ave to grab my taxi or it would leave without me. I remember distinctly that one side of St Charles Ave was a beautiful sunny New Orleans day; the other side was a wall of clouds. 3/7
edrabek.bsky.social
My parents and I worked frantically together; we spent hours phoning airlines and taxis, trying to find a way for me to evacuate. With everything shutting down around me, I can tell you that it felt impossible. Somehow, we managed to find a last minute flight out of New Orleans. 2/7
edrabek.bsky.social
On Sunday August 28, 2005, I woke up in my dorm room as a freshman at Loyola University, expecting to have a relaxing day before the start of classes. Instead, I found that #HurricaneKatrina had turned into a Category 5 storm and there was a mandatory evacuation in #NewOrleans. #Katrina20 1/7
edrabek.bsky.social
A few months ago, we started putting blankets on our bed in an attempt to protect our bedding from being shredded by our cats (the main offender is Hades). Here are photos from today where Hades has decided to thwart the rules. This is why we can't have nice things, Hades. #blackcats #cats
Black cat with head under blanket, thwarting the rules. Black cat on bedding instead of the blanket.
edrabek.bsky.social
This actually makes me feel physically ill. 🤢 It is so disturbing. Just thinking about the context of the world today and the roll back of women's rights that we are seeing in many places, defining me for my ability to produces eggs - 'faultily' or not - makes my skin crawl.
edrabek.bsky.social
What a lovely Friday. I'm alone in the office, but I've been having meetings with MSc students 👩‍💻, transferring imaging data for other students 🧠, coding ⌨️, and I'm nearly finished with my data collection so that I can complete my final analysis in my PhD ⚛️🧑‍🔬! #PhD #ThesisWriting #Research #MRI 🧪
a man in a suit and bow tie stands in front of a table full of measuring cups and boxes that say in the name of science
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edrabek.bsky.social
A dance party is happening in the park near my office, I'm currently coding while singing 'And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate...' I need to code this way more often! #thesiswriting #PhD #science #MRI 😂🧑‍🔬⚛️🧠📚🧪
a man in a suit and tie is dancing in a room
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