Tag: life sciences
Growing up in Science: Clinton Cave
Clinton Cave - "Protect your health, find mentorship, and help those around you. And just for the record, "You DO belong here."
Sleeping Astrocytes: Failures and Successes on the Journey to Publication
Laura Bojarskaite: "I want to be honest and tell you the story of how science actually happened for me and not how science should have happened according to all the rules, supposed-to’s, and textbooks."
Limits to Perfection: Searching For Order in Chaos
Kumaresh Krishnan: "Understanding when the details of a model are satisfactory for the research questions being asked is one of the most critical steps in my work."
My Career in the Midst of a Pandemic: Overcoming the Limitations of COVID-19
Rodrigo FO Pena: "I have reached a really great point in my career where I can give back to my home country without ever leaving my current research..."
Flickering Lights in the Darkness: How Microscopy Shaped My Scientific Path
Natalie Nannas: "Watching those flickering green dots shuttling around the cell convinced me that my future was in research."
I Thought Only Neurologists Could Study the Brain
Kathryn Bonnen: "The realization that I was not alone put me on a path to recovery that has allowed me to truly enjoy science again."
This Is Not The Way Beyoncé Made It Look
Bianca Jones Marlin: "I came to realize that my connection with my daughter, who’s now two-and-a-half years old, isn’t punctuated moments of oxytocin release. It’s our life together."
Fraternizing with Failure
Divya Shiroor: "I stepped up on stage, looked into the audience and for the first time ever, completely drew a blank. I tried to find my focus, somehow stumbled though my speech, leaving a big part of it out and...
Be your own Cartographer
Divya Shiroor: "I think of the IDP as a roadmap to the destination of your choice, with the difference being that you build your own road as you go along. It is a tool that helps assess which career you...
Growing Up in Science: David M. Schneider
David Schneider: "When I finished my masters, I applied to 11 PhD programs and was rejected by all of them. The next obvious step (to me) was to cold-call the director of graduate studies at Columbia (where I had just...
Finding Clarity in Chaos
Hazal Uzunkaya: "If you asked me what I wanted to be at the age of five, I would say a Veterinarian, which later turned into an Astronaut Veterinarian, and then became Prime Minister Astronaut Veterinarian. I dreamed big, however scattered...
Building Self-Confidence Through Science
Lauren Tereshko: "I realized I had stopped putting positive energy into myself, and grew angry and restless. Ashamed of my stagnation, in a moment of catharsis, I made the decision to apply for grad school."
Bringing the Bench to Life
Steven J. Del Signore: "As a basic cell biologist who uses fruit flies as a model organism to investigate the causes of neurological disease, the gap between my science and its potential impact on human health at times feels very...
Take A Chance
Inna Nechipurenko: "I switched model organisms and shifted the focus of my research to cilia – microscopic signaling “beacons” of our cells. Specifically, I wanted to understand how they form and function in specialized sensory neurons."
Finding a Direction in Science
Staci Amburgey: "I might have liked animals from a young age, but I tried a lot of different ways to study animals before I got to where I am now."
Wandering Across Fields in Science
Irv Epstein: "Reluctant to accept the result of an undergraduate’s accident over the published wisdom of senior investigators, I told him to redo the experiment under controlled conditions. He did so, and returned to tell me that he had obtained...
Paying it Forward Matters
Dr. Avital Rodal: "There are many reasons to pour your heart into helping and supporting others, including the knowledge that you are doing the right thing, and the appreciation and gratitude that it brings back to you. I discovered that...
Discovering Zoology Through My Passion for Birdwatching II: Is There a Final Word in Research?
Abdul Jamil Urfi: "I still have some years left before I retire. But the clock has started ticking and I can hear it loud and clear."
From Volleyball to Neuroscience
Nicolas Tritsch: "I might have not sought a postdoc if it weren’t for my thesis advisor, Dwight Bergles, who (kindly) pushed me out of the lab after 6 years."
Finding My Own Way in Science
Milka Kostic: "I was making discoveries. I was publishing my research results. I was enjoying research. But somewhere along the way, I lost my passion for doing science, and I found myself facing a real conundrum."
Iridescence in a World of Noir
Parin Shaik: "I sacrificed my hobbies and interests for the sole purpose of becoming the epitome of perfection. I became afraid that if I couldn't live up to their expectations, I would be nothing but a failure."
Getting Started in Academia
Cristina Savin: "In retrospect, I had very little idea what I was doing. After the first few rejections, I started doubting that I belonged in academia at all."
Undeterred: My Journey Continues
Lauren Neal: "Representation in science is of the utmost importance to me at this point in my life. I hope to contribute to changing the idea of what a scientist is supposed to look like or where they are supposed...
Learning to Know Myself
Carol Shoshkes Reiss: "A few years ago, when three sequential grant applications went down in flames, and funds were exhausted, I made the decision to close my lab. I do not regret the decision."
My Stolen Identity: I Was Told That Science Was Not Meant For Me
Pei Qin (Sabrina) Ng - My persistence in science enraged my biology teacher. Every lesson, she publicly shamed me in front of the class, proclaiming how bad I am at science, especially biology. She warned my classmates that they were...
Studying and Experiencing Mental Illness
I feel very grateful to have found this path. But it hasn’t been easy. Academia is incredibly stressful, and I am an anxiety-prone perfectionist who tends to over-work. - Mariam Aly
My life in butterflies: How a childhood hobby shaped my career
Citizen scientists — as biologist Caren Cooper writes in her book, Citizen Science — can be anyone, often not trained as a scientist, who collaborates with trained researchers in “collective scientific endeavors.” It can be a way for people to develop hobbies, learn new...
The Journey Continues: Finding My Questions in Science
If it had not been for my friends and the little voice inside telling me to focus on why I had started research in the first place and to keep going, I would have almost certainly given up. - Yasmine...