Transcript

 

For me, an essential part of being a biologist is the ability to harness moments of intense focused observation and perspective taking of the natural world.

 

Becoming a biologist has corresponded with a profound shift in how I look at and view the world. However, more practically, being a biologist requires the ability to document, interface with, and explore those moments of intense perspective taking and observation.

 

Whereas many other kids with an inclination towards science might be found playing outside in the dirt and collecting insects for hours upon hours ~ I saved my outside play for inventing vast imaginative worlds where I had to overcome various conflicts… worlds with magicians who could talk to animals, and kings and queens. Many of my worlds did involve animals. And I remember, even at a very early age spending hours upon hours making up, largely anthropromphic stories with my dad, about cheetahs and all the difficulties they faced on the savannahs of Africa. However, I recall knowing from a young age that I wanted to study animals.

 

I wanted to be a scientist because I felt profoundly connected to the natural world and to animals. So in addition to making up elaborate stories, I also played science. I practiced sitting and watching animals and trying to make observations.

 

And playing science was hard…. I couldn’t even regularly find the birds that I wanted to study!

 

The only time we could regularly find the birds is when I was with Mom, Mom made taking notes and observing look so easy.

 

This memory stands out beyond almost all the other lab reports and science projects I did for school. Why is that? Four things stand out to me. (First). I was so motivated to understand what happened to our cardinals. This started with our real observation that they did not have top knots. (Second) There was no framework for how to get to the answer. I remember feeling at a complete loss until mom swept in with some help. That moment, where you feel like the bottom has dropped out after being presented with a problem, is a moment I am very familiar with professionally now, and one I never had in school. (Third) Trying to find out why some cardinals didn’t have top knots was really  hard. If this had been a school project, I would have failed. Our sample size was abysmal. (Fourth) There was no satisfying cleaned up answer. Along the way, I talked to a one of my friends’ dad, who was an ornithologist at the University. So we did talk to professionals and no one really knew. It was a complete mystery. This is just about the way every experiment I have ever done ever has ended. Did we learn things… yes… Do we know the answer … no….

 

(Picture of Ardea with my poster). As a kid, I was not confident I could be a scientist. Scientists appeared to have a whole host of skills and abilities that did not feel natural to me. And this is somewhat true even today. At some point after I got my PhD, it seemed suitable that I call myself a biologist.  To me, my story is relevant not because my challenges are unique, but because everyone’s challenges are unique.

 

If science is fundamentally perspective taking, it should be no surprise that science benefits from being a community filled with diverse perspectives. We live in a diverse world where it is difficult to predict what paths people will take and what supports they will need to become scientists and/or to engage with scientific discourse. Surely these are important paths to study.