Also in this week's C&EN, a fun article from Bethany Halford on the weird places that Zoom has taken us:
University of California, Davis, chemistry professor Dean Tantillo brings new meaning to the phrase “zooming around in the car.” The combination of no office space in his house, curious young children, and limited childcare forced Tantillo, who has been teaching remotely this academic year, to log on from the front seat of his car for classes and meetings.
“It’s like being in an airplane, but you’ve got more space,” Tantillo tells Newscripts of his car schooling. He uses a small dry-erase board for teaching and a power inverter to plug his laptop into the car’s cigarette lighter. He also has a small tray that attaches to the steering wheel where he can rest his computer. Most days, Tantillo teaches from his driveway, but sometimes he parks outside the city library for a change of scenery.
Tantillo’s 2-year-old daughter occasionally naps in the backseat while he’s teaching or in a meeting. He says seeing her on screen is a good reminder that being a parent is not easy, particularly with the childcare challenges of the pandemic. “I don’t mind my students knowing that I’m a human,” he says.
Click through for the excellent headshot. The weirdest place I've had a work-related Zoom meeting was my garage (definitely went for the camera-off option.) Readers, where have you done your online meetings?
I do many Zoom meetings on my phone, while walking circles around my house. I am sometimes asked to turn the camera off, because I'm making other people dizzy.
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