As I walked into high school Biology class, I looked down at my Eurkaryotic cell cake and glowed with pride at my baking skills but also my knowledge of the cell and strong desire to learn more. From an early age, I knew I wanted to pursue science. This was to the surprise and chagrin of both of my parents because neither of them studied in STEM fields. At the beginning of high school, I had the opportunity to attend a Duke TIP summer studies program on the Biology of Cancer. For three weeks, my classmates and I studied for eight hours a day, did many different labs and we all loved it. Since I was homeschooled, during my senior year of high school I had the flexibility to work in a lab a few days a week. I vividly remember dissecting fruit flies and not totally knowing what the purpose was but just reveling in being in a lab environment. After these pivotal experiences studying science at a young age I decided to pursue a degree in a STEM field.
My Journey Through Undergrad
I attended North Carolina State University (NCSU) for undergrad and double majored in Genetics and English. Many people questioned my English major; however, it has been something that has completely set me apart from others in science. After taking a class in epigenetics (which is how the environment interfaces with our genes) my Junior year in college, I absolutely fell in love with the topic. I saw the potential of many applications to cancer, disease, and even nutrition.
NCSU had many research opportunities that I took advantage of. I worked in a genetics lab one summer studying eye disease in red wolves and later that fall in an epigenetics lab defining gene/environment interactions. In both lab experiences, my interest was piqued and I was excited by the prospect of performing experiments and could see myself working in a lab long-term. Multiple faculty encouraged me in this direction as well and believed in me as I embarked on the journey of going to grad school to pursue my own research and grow as a scientist. I applied to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and to my surprise I was accepted!
The Grad School Reality Check
It has been over three years since I first set foot on UNC-CH’s campus. Within my first year of grad school, I realized that my dream to be a professor and own my own lab was not all that I thought it was and I decided that I did not want to stay in academia long-term. This decision was mainly due to the nature of academia, my desire to have a family one day, and my lab experiences not fully preparing me for the many ups and downs of science as a career. Part of me felt like a failure for coming so far and changing my mind. However, I realized that pursuing a Ph.D. would definitely grow me as a person and open up many other career options and so I pressed on determined to graduate with a Ph.D. and use my degree in other places besides academia.
Transitioning into Sci Comm
Currently, I’m a fourth year Ph.D. candidate and will hopefully graduate sometime in the next two years! There have been many ups and downs in the past three years of grad school. Through the hard times I have learned what it means to persevere when nothing is working, how to set work/life boundaries that are healthy, and how to confidently defend what I know. While I am excited to finish grad school, I have to prevent myself from thinking too far into the future the since I want to finish well and not always be preoccupied with the next step. At the moment, my plan is to pursue a career in science communication though I am not completely sure what vein.
I mentioned that I received many questions about the decision to pair English with Genetics in undergrad. My reasoning then was that I enjoyed English and why not read Shakespeare in between organic chemistry problems? However, as I have progressed in grad school, knowing how to write and communicate has served me better than some of my undergrad science classes. Scientists are taught how to write grants and scientific papers, but very few are educated or even interested in communicating their science to a public audience. After discovering that science communication was a field, I realized that my unique pairing in undergrad had shaped me to be perfect for the field of science communication.
During my time in grad school, I have had the fantastic opportunity to dip my toes into the vast pool that is science communication. Currently, I work with the Science Writing and Communication Club (SWAC). We publish general articles written by graduate students every week on our blog The Pipettepen. I served as the Editorial Coordinator for one year where I set up our editing schedule for the different posts. For the past two years, I have served as the Vice President and Chief Editor where I have the pleasure of reading through all the posts and publishing them. Ever since college, I have thoroughly enjoyed editing the work of others so it has been a fantastic opportunity for me to do so and oversee a publication of my peers.
Besides being on the board for SWAC, I also started a YouTube channel turned podcast with another graduate student at UNC-CH. We are the Steministas and we educate the public about science in the news and the ethical implications of new science findings. We spent a year on YouTube and realized that podcasting would fit us better and we just celebrated our one-year anniversary of podcasting! Through Steministas, I have discovered that my strengths in science communication lie in creating analogies for complex topics and breaking down difficult ideas into simple ideas that anyone can understand. With Steministas, we also cover all kinds of science disciplines and I thoroughly enjoy learning about a new type of science and trying to digest the field to then share it with others. Some topics we have covered include ‘What are CRISPR babies?’, “Is Race Genetic?”, and “What are Probiotics?”
Since I majored in English, I also enjoy writing and reading to process my thoughts. Over on my blog I post about grad school, what I’m currently noodling on, and other random thoughts. I also keep track of all the books I am reading. I am trying to be more intentional in my blogging but I am normally inspired after late night car drives after listening to some great music.
One other science communication area I am passionate about is between scientists and religious groups. I am a Christian and I have seen many Christians judge scientists for what they do (myself included) and at the same time have heard many prominent scientists absolutely drag Christians for what they believe. As someone between both camps, I think it’s crucially important to foster communication, empathy, and understanding. I tweet about this quite a lot and have talked about it on a few podcasts I’ve been interviewed on.
It may seem like I pursue many different hobbies (I do actually have more!) but grad school is a time where you need to have other pursuits besides your science. There are many days of frustration and failure and having other hobbies allows me to not find my identify in my science but in things that bring me joy.
You can follow me over on Twitter or Instagram @geneticginger and my website is https://www.geneticginger.com/ ! I’m happy to talk more if any of you have questions.
