Woman posts graduation picture after receiving PhD in ‘the Politics of Smell’, becomes subject of trolling online

A woman who completed her PhD in olfactory ethics - the study of how smells affect people’s behaviour - shared photos celebrating her achievement. However, her post quickly became the subject of backlash on social media. Ally Louks, known as the “doctor of smell”online, earned a doctorate in the "politics of smell in modern and contemporary prose".

She posted a photo to mark the milestone in November 2024, which swiftly went viral, attracting a wide range of reactions.

Speaking to People, Dr Louks said the attention “happened by accident”.

“I was generally, up until the end of 2024, a pretty offline person. I really didn't spend much time on social media," the 28-year-old shares. "I had this Twitter account because I started my PhD during the pandemic, when nobody could socialise or make connections. That was my way of talking to people in my discipline and in my subject area."

"I didn't use it very often, but I decided to post about completing my PhD because I knew that a lot of my colleagues were still there and they might be interested in learning that I'd finished my PhD in case they had any postdoctoral opportunities,” she continued.

Dr Louks said the post “became a locus for the culture wars”.

“A lot of people were really positive and just said, ‘Congratulations on your achievement,’ she told People. But, then there were not quite as many people, but certainly a strong contingent of very loud people, specifically American men who were not pleased for me,” she says, noting that "one of them called me the ‘face of tyranny.' "

For over a week, she said people "channelled their qualms with women and academia and women in academia all into this post."

“It really is not something that I ever could have expected or anticipated, but I'm really proud of the way that I dealt with the situation," she says. “It was a very intense week of my life. I didn't get very much sleep. I was still teaching, and I had this part-time job in the evenings teaching at a gym doing exercise classes, and it was very hectic trying to deal with everything.”

Despite the reactions, Dr Louks said she understands why many people found her subject unusual.

“It's not something that we tend to think about very often, and it's not clear to the average person who has never thought about how this might happen. I understand that," she shares. “But then there was also a contingent of people who were just angry about everything in a way that was not productive at all.”

She explained that her work looks at "the social significance of smell and how smell shapes our identities and how it's represented in literature." She added that people are often "taught how to relate to smell" rather than it being entirely natural.

“Because I didn't really use Twitter very much, the algorithm picked up quickly that I was interested in smell," she says. "My entire algorithm was posts about smell. All I had to do was open up Twitter, and I could look at my notifications where people were tagging me in things and just point at things, basically saying, ‘This is an example of this particular phenomenon that I was trying to describe in my thesis.' "

“I really relished being able to connect with so many different people who are all bringing their own individual and cultural experiences with smell to the table," she adds. "It's been a really positive part of my life, despite the way that it started."

Looking back, she said she feels grateful for the experience.

“It led to many wonderful opportunities and it gave me a platform to talk about the things that I'm really passionate about, and in some ways, be a voice of reason on a platform that is descending into chaos day by day.”

Dr Louks said her aim is to encourage people to think differently about smell and its role in everyday life.

“There are some people who are really difficult to reason with and you can work out who those people are depending on how they speak to you," she says. "There have definitely been situations where naive Ally has gone into it thinking that we could have a productive conversation and realise that there's no way that this is going to be possible."

She added that many people have still been open to understanding her work.

“I do think that I've gained a sort of basic level of respect on the platform by continuing to engage in good faith. Even if people aren't really interested in my work, most people are now relatively respectful towards me because they know that I'm not going to attack anyone," she says. "I'm really just here to educate people and to have conversations with people. I'm really not interested in arguing online. I have much better things to do with my life than argue with strangers on the internet."