When I wrote the research proposal for my project, science communication was a big part of what I wanted to do. Regular blog posts, outreach events, social media, the full monty! For me, it was important to bring the science I do closer to non-scientists and make my work accessible. So why has it taken me over half a year to publish my first blog post?
A beginning in the city of dreaming spires
My first day in office as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow was on Monday, October 2nd. I was very excited to start my first research project where I was in charge. The first days in the office were spend getting to know everyone in the School of Archaeology, reading up on best practices in stable isotope analysis, and figuring out who was responsible for what. Moving to the UK for the first time meant I had to take a lot of time to figure out how to arrange practicalities to live here, such as utilities. I spend a lot of time trying to open a UK bank account because they would not accept my proof of address. I showed them my letting contract but because I am letting directly from a private landlord and not an agency, this apparently was not valid. So, they asked me for utility bills… which I did not have, because these companies would not let me pay without a UK bank account. After going in circles for a few days, I got a lucky break by getting a council tax bill with my name and new address, which then allowed me to open the bank account. Besides this, I was buying small things to turn my furnished flat into a home and was exploring Oxford to figure out where everything was. Oxford is a wonderful place to live as an early career researcher, and I am sure I will post a blog on life in this city soon enough.
An eruption of violence, pain, and sadness
On October 7th, less than a week after my happy arrival in Oxford, tragedy struck in the Near East in the form of what we now know as the ‘Israel-Hamas war’. I won’t go into details about my thoughts on the whole situation in this post but regardless of politics, watching the sheer atrocities and pain people have to endure is heart-breaking. So, how did the scientific community around me react? Many of my collaborators told me to wait and see because this would blow over soon enough, after all, this is a part of the world that sees its fair share of conflict. However, by January things did not get better… in fact, things kept getting worse. I was in turmoil about the ethics of working in this region, feeling awful for all the people getting hurt, getting frustrated because I could not do my work, and feeling guilty because I could not help but wonder what this conflict meant for me and my project. In January, I decided to let go of all collaborations I had in Israel and moved on to switch the geographic focus of my research to Jordan. Jordan, after all, has always been one of the more stable countries in this region. And besides this, the clock was ticking on my project. Three years may sound like a lot of time, but months fly by and the precarity of my position meant I had to be pro-active.
Changing directions
I send dozens of emails to various teams across the world trying to get my hands on new material and collaborations. It was frustrating because being an early career researcher, even one based in the famous Oxford, means that nobody really knows who you are. You are very much near the bottom of the food chain. Emails went unanswered, materials were lost or destroyed, work was already being undertaken, and most prominently some researchers were hoarding material despite not being able to analyse and publish all this material. Eventually, I got my breakthrough. Dr. James Fraser who directed the Khirbet Umm al-Ghozlan project would be happy to collaborate and set up a meeting to talk things through. About a week after that meeting, I found myself on a plane to Amman, Jordan, to join his study campaign and team of specialists. The trip was a successful one and I could export 12 bones to Oxford with permission of the Department of Antiquities. This adventure deserves a blog post of its own and will follow shortly. But, apart from being a wonderful research trip, James brought me into contact with several other projects. These directors were very keen on having me join, which means that after over half a year my project is finally happening!
I hope you now understand a bit more why it took me so long to get around to writing a blog post. Between personal crises, professional crises, and trying to shift the focus of my project, it has been a lot to deal with for one person. Luckily, I already have made a strong community here in Oxford where friends and colleagues have listened to my troubles and supported me. But enough of being a bummer – you can expect some more fun blog posts in the very near future now that my project has finally kicked off! Next up will be a post of my research trip to Jordan in March, a post about working in this region while the war is happening, and explanations of the methods I will be using. Stay tuned, cool stuff is on its way!
Dr Shyama Vermeersch 
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