Meet the Scientist

The goal of this page is to introduce you to how diverse science is by exploring what individual scientists do! We hope that you will learn how many different avenues you can take to explore the natural world around us. Each guest scientist will also explain what type of data they use, why they enjoy science, and share some advice for young future scientists. Other similar blogs include Dr. Sarah Sheffield’s Scientist of the Week, Fossil Guy’s paleontologist interviews, The Female Scientist portraits, and Rock-Head Sciences. If you would like to contribute a Meet the Scientist blog post, please click here to download a template with more instructions!

Mariandrea ROUSSELIN, PhD student Marine Biologist/paleontologist

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foreground is a person with their hair in a pony tail looking at the camera. In the background there is a mashy looking landscape that is very rocky with moss and blue sky.

Dear reader, 

Hi 🙂 I’m very pleased to meet you.

I’m Mariandrea, a PhD student working on foraminifera and their shell composition, but before going into the science, let me tell you about how I came to be a scientist.

If you ask me, when did I realize I wanted to be a scientist, I will definitely tell you it was during the summer of 2006. What happened you may ask? Very simple, I took a trip with my mom to an aquarium, and I asked THE question that changed my life.  

The conversation went something like this: 

  • “Mom? Do you know who takes care of these animals? I want to learn more about them! 
  • -Probably a marine biologist? They study them and their environments, so they can be healthy and strong.
  • Mom… I think I want to be a marine biologist.
  • If that’s what you want, do it!”

That was the first time I heard about marine biology… Who would have thought that my 6-year-old self knew what my life was going to look like in the future. In reality, there is a little more to that story, I kind of grew up in the lab (please don’t ask how/why, was I in the lab) watching my mom working and teaching. So, the lab always felt like home.

Like almost every single human, time came to choose a career path… Was I really going to let my 6-year-old self-choose my career? I was not the crazy old white man in science who is always in his lab coat. You know… the typical media representation. I was more of the very smiley, dancing-singing theatre kid, or the watercolor painting fan, or maybe the swimmer that gave everything to her sport, or the reader/writer who desperately wanted to believe in magical worlds and much more. 

Well to answer the question… Yes, I did let her choose. Marine biology was and is everything I want. It was the right answer, despite the criticism and disapproval from some people.

Moana says it better: 

every turn I take, every trail I track

every path I make, every road leads back 

to the place I know where I cannot go… 

where I long to be... 

see the line where the sky meets the sea… 

it calls me

(yes, I still enjoy Disney movies)

Anyway… One thing led to another, and there I was packing my whole life into a suitcase to go across the Atlantic Ocean or around 9 000 km away from everything I knew. A girl, a suitcase and a dream, it sounds like a cheesy comedy in the making, but quite literally what happened! 

Back to science! I completed a bachelor’s in biology to then specialize in a master on the marine field and the impacts of humans on ecosystems. 

Mariandrea standing in a stream. She is wearing black attire with water boots as she is half way up her calf in water. She is smiling. The stream is murky brown-green with lush vegetation surrounding the stream.
Mariandrea facing the camera in a red sweatshirt in the foreground with measuring equipment that she is pointing toward. The background has a beach with grassy vegetation.

The pictures above are of me in the field doing some sampling and measurements 

Somehow, I’m currently a PhD student and I’m on my way to becoming what I was dreaming of.  I still don’t know if it was luck or hard work, probably both.  Science is hard but very rewarding!
In the end, after getting to know them during my internships, foraminifera are my poison of choice. They are unicellular microorganisms, living in all marine ecosystems that have a carbonate shell. These shells record different sea-water parameters as they are being built. These records allow us to reconstruct past conditions to eventually have more accurate predictions for the future and allow us to try to prepare for it. 

Remember kids, understanding the past is the key for the future.
During my PhD, I am interested in how foraminifera will respond to different, atmospheric CO2 conditions. Atmospheric CO2 is in equilibrium with seawater and this is leading to, for example, ocean acidification. I’m spending my days between the lab working on experiments, my desk doing analyses and from time to time going out into the field. I’m also working on a secret paper, a more ecological one, that will come in the near future (or more like in a year). Stay tuned! 

In fewer words, I love science but I’m still very much my non-scientific self, I’m swimming every single week, I’m trying to get back into water colours and if you’re looking for musical recommendations, go listen to MICO from Canada or if you been living under a rock Wicked. 

I want to leave you with some final thoughts: 

Being a scientist is not about what you see on tv or using the lab coats, it is about being curious and seeking answers. So basically, everyone can be a scientist no matter who you are.
And if you are lucky enough, take AND create opportunities for yourself, it always pays back. 

On a personal note, I’m not going to tell you that the sun will come after the rain, but that maybe sometimes dancing in the rain can be as fulfilling as being under the sun. 

As this is only the beginning of a girl and her dream, I hope that you will be able to write your own story as the great scientist you are set to become.

Erin Potter, Ph.D Student and Lecturer

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Tell us a little bit about yourself. Currently, I reside in the Southern Tier of New York. I love to be outdoors. My hobbies include traveling, hiking, paddling, trail maintenance, climbing, yoga, and aerial hoop. I am a big fan of constantly learning new things and having new experiences. I am a full-time single mother with a feisty 6.5 year old daughter. We are both National Parks enthusiasts.

Background contains light colored rocks and some shrubs. The foreground has a woman squatting down in a baseball hat with a rock hammer. There is a small child participating in the swing of the hammering.
Me squatting down with my daughter as a toddler. We are fossil hunting in a rock field in the Alberta badlands.

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I love all sciences but focus my career and academics on the Earth and Atmospheric sciences. I hold a Masters in Geosciences with a concentration in teaching and a Masters in Atmospheric Sciences. Past research has examined winter storms, climatic changes and the influence of moist air, called an atmospheric river, as it interacts with mountain ranges such as the Andes. I have a lot of interest in weather and climate, but also love geology. I hope to learn more about paleontology! My upcoming research will focus on effective communication in geosciences and inclusivity within geoscience education.

I am a non-traditional graduate student as I am also a faculty member in Geography, and older than my program-mates. I have been teaching at the college level for about 8 years and have informal education experience with all ages. I have a great passion for teaching and sparking interest in science related topics. I’ve worked at a company called Science Explorers, providing  after-school science enrichment to elementary schools. I’ve worked as an educator and animal care personnel at a natural history museum, a zoo, and a couple nature centers. Recently diagnosed with ADHD, this explains why I am addicted to having multiple jobs and hobbies. I’m always doing something and don’t know how to relax when there’s so much more to learn! I am currently working on my Ph.D. in order to go further in my career and to contribute more to the Geoscience community.

Background contains rock formations and the foreground contains a woman on the right and a young child on the left sitting atop the Arches National Park entry sign.
Sitting on the sign for Arches National Park, my daughter and I are always exploring. Photo credit to our other travel buddy, my mom.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? I think every child is born with natural curiosity and those who continue with that curiosity become scientists. I was always interested in the world around me, always exploring nature. The science of the Earth fascinated me from a young age. I didn’t start honing in on my interest in Meteorology until a tornado outbreak in 1998 occurred near my hometown. It wasn’t very devastating, but I was terrified. After that memorable day, I wanted to learn all that I could. I eventually did my undergraduate work in Meteorology, but the department I was in also had geology. I joined some classes and club activities related to geology. I had an interest in it, but my career took me more towards the atmospheric and climate sciences. I felt I was lacking in my academic understanding of geology, so I obtained my first Masters in Geosciences. I pursued a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences after that, but ended up with a second Masters. Now I am in a Geological Sciences Ph.D. program to further my knowledge and research interests. My favorite thing about being a scientist is seeing that spark in others when they witness the magic of science. 

Background is bright sky with the foreground containing a large lava formation with a woman sitting underneath it pretending to hold it up.
Just me playing in a lava field in Iceland.

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? My past work has contributed to better understanding of weather/climate phenomena and climate change. I hope that my future research will add to the ever changing education of complex concepts, the lack of effective communication in geoscience, and add more inclusive modes of learning and teaching.

Background is a night sky in a parking lot with some vehicles. Foreground has a women holding a weather balloon smiling.
Holding a weather balloon to be launched into the sky. This was a project to take measurements of the atmosphere during winter storms in Albany, NY.
Top down image of a woman showing a handful of children the anatomy of a dried horseshoe crab.
One of my many jobs was to educate the public on nature related topics. Here, I am showing a group of Girl Scouts a horseshoe crab’s underside.

What advice do you have for up and coming scientists? There may be people who tell you that you can’t. I certainly have had people tell me not to bother in science because I’m “a woman” or “the field is too competitive”. I didn’t listen to those voices and proved to them that I can do whatever I set my mind to. Another piece of advice is to accept that paths change, but it’ll all work out if you work hard to accomplish your goals. I didn’t think I’d be 35 and just starting a Ph.D. program, but here I am!

Background is a foggy rocky area with the foreground being a woman in exercise attire smiling.
Solo climbing Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t!

Valor Nikesha Smallwood, PhD Student

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Tell us a little about yourself. Hey. It’s been a while since my last post here. Many things have changed since then. I’m a girl now, that’s a pretty big change. My name is Valor now, and I think that’s a good thing to focus on here. I chose my new first and middle names, Valor and Nikesha respectively, for different reasons. Valor means exactly what it sounds like; courage to do what is right, which is something I’ve wanted to embody since I was young. Nikesha is a name derived from the name of the Greek goddess Nike, but it’s also a name I pulled from one of my favorite songs, America by Sammus, and gave to a character I wrote, which was basically just a passion project to explore where my mind was at the time of writing her. It means victory, and it reflects all the thoughts and personal effects I put into writing that character that are largely my own and informed by my experiences, so it felt only natural that I make that apart of my name. But outside of that, to tell a bit more about myself, I am a nerd who loves to write all kinds of things, from novels to poems, listen to hip-hop music of all kinds, play video games, and watch anime (most recently Bocchi the Rock).


What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I’m a vertebrate paleontologist (a deep and heartfelt apology to all invertebrate paleontologists) studying comparative dire wolf and grey wolf paleoecology using stable isotopes. The samples I work on come from Rancho La Brea in Los Angeles, CA. Currently, I’m using carbon isotopes to examine these canids’ dietary habits and how they fluctuated with climate. I will be moving onto nitrogen isotopes in the very near future to expand the image of their diets with more precise trophic data. From there, I will be performing radiocarbon dating and strontium analysis, to see where in space and when in time sampled dire and grey wolves existed. I’ll also be creating a strontium map of the LA basin as part of this. This will be done to gain more holistic insight into the lives of these organisms, and to see if dire wolves, like modern grey wolves, travelled great distances, possibly to track migrating prey animals.

A black woman with purple and blue hair dressed in goth accessories sitting at a table, hands folded in front of her and looking at the camera. She is in front of a pond with some sedges and trees bordering it.
Me, sitting at a table in front of a pond, looking very demure and very mindful.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? My favorite part about being a scientist is the joy of teaching it to other people. Being a teaching assistant, I have taught and will continue to teach undergraduate courses about topics such as introductory biology and geology, and I love watching my students come to understand things more clearly and ask questions that evolve over time to be more and more refined, showing a mastery of the material. It’s also just as nice to be taught things by my students. Details about their interests, forays they’ve made into the working and scientific world, and their insights about politics, diversity, and the world around them. It’s amazing to see, and it makes me feel confident in future generations, which makes it frustrating to see people older than me discrediting and doubting the intelligence and work ethics of younger generations. I got into science from a young age after reading a book about dinosaurs in third grade. I was hooked ever since, which is why I find it so important to foster an interest in science in people of any age and to have patience with people when they stumble over difficult words and concepts.

A black woman with purple and blue hair and goth accessories standing in front of a poster. The poster’s title is “Seasonal Diet Ecology of Rancho La Brea Dire Wolves”, and it discusses her findings about carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in dire wolves.
Me, posing in front of the poster I presented at GSA Connects, 2024 about my work.

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? My scientific work serves modern conservationists and paleontologists studying ancient systems. A strontium map is helpful for people who want to study it in the future, and a comparative study of dire wolves and grey wolves can help people who want to study the past in further detail as well as those who study grey wolves today, which are under threat by human land encroachment and changing ecosystem dynamics. But I also do work on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sciences and the world around me. From large, concerted efforts like protests, to smaller, personal things like mentoring diverse undergraduates and helping them get research experience alongside someone who resembles them and can help them navigate certain issues, I do my best to make sure people looking to enter the scientific community can do so freely, without fear of discrimination or judgment. 

What advice do you have for up-and-coming scientists? Don’t let anybody tell you that you aren’t good enough, or that you cannot do what you want to do for any reason. If you feel that you can do something and that you want to do it, that’s all that matters. Do what you can to make that happen. Sometimes, detractors will try to make you feel inferior; like you lack the skillset necessary to become what you want to be or like you would be happier elsewhere. The person acting most commonly and most strongly in your best interest is yourself, so you should be the final authority on any decision you decide to make. And many times, people who tell you these negative things simply doubt you, and this can be for many reasons. But there is great satisfaction in proving naysayers wrong.

Ohav Harris, Master’s Paleontology Student

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Tell us a little about yourself. I’ve made a Meet the Scientist post before, but that was a while ago and I think a reintroduction would serve to better reflect the person and scientist I’ve become since then. That being said, hello! My name is Ohav Harris, and I’m currently a master’s student at the University of South Florida. I still very much enjoy reading manga (One Piece, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Bleach are some of my favorites), and I’ve gotten (back) into some fitness-related hobbies like playing volleyball and weight training. Recently, I’ve also gotten back into creative writing (short stories, poetry, etc.) and fishing (of all things). I’d like to pick up art as a hobby, mostly so I can better appreciate the art I already consume but also because I think romanticism and impressionism are really cool and I would love to, someday, try my hand at those styles.

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I’m a paleontologist (paleobiologist if you prefer)! For my research, I study the biogeographic patterns of Paleozoic echinoderms (animals like starfish, sea lilies, and sand dollars) and how things like climate affected them. In other words, I’m interested in how echinoderms diversified over time and space, and what conditions affected that development. I also work on a Jurassic sauropod (long-necked dinosaur) specimen with my friends/colleagues that came out of the Morrison Formation in the Warm Springs Ranch area (Thermopolis, WY – Wyoming Dinosaur Center). This research is mainly focused on trying to figure out what dinosaur our specimen is and describing the condition of the bones themselves.

An office space with Ohav, in a tee shirt and jeans, sitting at a desk with a bookshelf, computer, and divider curtain smiling at the camera.
Me, sitting at my desk trying very hard to look natural.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? My favorite part of being a scientist is stumbling upon new questions and thinking or talking about how those questions can be approached. Nothing beats the moment when everything clicks and a question pops into my mind, and I get to brainstorm (ideally out loud with someone else) about how to answer it. I also love working with other scientists because I enjoy seeing how other people think and approach questions, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to work with so many intelligent and talented people. I’ve always been interested in science, but I had a long phase of wanting to be a lawyer somewhere in my teenage years. After a galvanizing visit to the American Museum of Natural History when I was 17, I committed myself to paleontology and haven’t looked back since!

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? Because I work on the connection between climate and the diversity of echinoderms, which have groups that are still around today, I think I have the opportunity to show how animals and environments today are affected by changing climates. Some animals, like polar bears and coral, are vulnerable to these changes and I think that understanding exactly how and why they are affected is an important step to reaching a solution.  I also work with the Scientist in Every Florida School (S.E.F.S.) program, a group that connects K­–12 teachers with scientists to provide outreach opportunities. With S.E.F.S., I try my best to encourage young students to engage more with scientific topics and kindle their curiosity toward the natural world. To this end, I try to do outreach when I can because I aspire to nurture as much scientific thought in as many people as possible.

What advice do you have for up-and-coming scientists? Be persistent, be flexible, be curious, and be kind to yourself. Throughout your path to scientific superstardom, you’re going to encounter some hurdles, make mistakes, or run into something that changes your entire game plan (which isn’t always a bad thing) – it’s inevitable. It’s important to push forward and give yourself the room to learn and grow (without being too hard on yourself!). Things won’t always go the way you think they might, so keep an open mind and explore your options. Through it all, keep asking questions! Science is driven by questions, and the answers are always a treat to find. Who knows, maybe you’ll ask the question that leads to the discovery of the next big thing!

Karla Rodriguez, Future Hydrogeologist

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Karla Rodriguez standing near the edge of a mountainside cliff in Pocatello, Idaho. She is pictured smiling proudly while wearing sunglasses and a hat. Green, circular wheat fields are in the background.
Karla Rodriguez standing near a cliff in Pocatello, Idaho.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hello everyone! My name is Karla Rodriguez, and I am a B.S. of Geology undergraduate at the University of South Florida. I am set to graduate in December 2023, so I have been busy cultivating my resume and interviewing for consultant positions in Florida. My family immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1996, and I was the first child in my family born here in the U.S. Growing up as a native Floridian, my childhood was often spent with countless visits to beaches and parks. This began my love for natural systems and piqued my curiosity on the ongoing processes which shape the environment. I love exploring the secret corners of the world, where most people don’t explore. I’ve always enjoyed learning how natural systems of Earth work and questioning why certain phenomena occurs. Questions like why the sky is blue and why the ocean is salty are intriguing to me. I also love playing first-person shooter videogames like Valorant and watching anime. I aspire to become a good enough competitive player to take part in tournaments and travel across the globe!

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I am currently an intern at the Southwest Florida Water Management District, specifically in the Water Quality Monitoring Program section. We collect water samples of both surface water and groundwater from Levy County (North Florida) to western Charlotte County (South Florida). These water samples are analyzed in our chemistry laboratory, where parameters like chlorophyll concentrations and ionic compounds (ammonia, nitrates, etc.) are documented within the District’s Environmental Data Portal (EDP). Nutrients like nitrates often runoff into nearby water bodies, resulting in algal blooms which can contaminate important drinking water sources. This information is freely available to the public, and organizations often utilize our data to formulate their own decisions on water management. I assist project managers in quality assurance of monitoring data into software such as KISTERS and WISKI, by reviewing field notes, and coding with R script. It feels rewarding contributing to decades long research on Southwest Florida’s water. I take pride working in the public sector; it’s nice meeting with the public to discuss findings on their local communities. I love having a role in how water is managed in Florida– it makes me feel important! Water quality is critical to understand as tens of millions of people rely on Florida’s water reservoirs to survive. It is especially important to assess the state of water supply as climate change continues to change environments globally.

Karla Rodriguez standing in a trench on a beach, smiling at the camera while holding a machete. There are different colored strata seen along the sides of the trench.
Karla Rodriguez standing in a trench on a beach in Florida to examine recent lithology.

What advice do you have for up-and-coming scientists? I believe everyone should pursue their passions in life because if you lack the drive to do something, you’re likely to not reach your true potential. Everyone wants to be the best at something, and to be the best at it they must enjoy the processes (to an extent) that make it happen. Do something you like so life is more enjoyable! Another piece of advice I have would be to carefully envision their future with whatever endeavors they do/desire. It’s helpful to do things with a goal in mind, taking baby steps along the way. Everything will be ok and don’t be afraid to try new things!

Taylor Rand, Biology undergraduate student

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A young woman holding a green insect on her hand while smiling.
Me posing with a gorgeous green katydid!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Ecological and Evolutionary Biology at the University of South Florida. I have a big love for insects and a fascination with the story of evolution and the way that it has shaped everything that we see around us today.

Outside of academics, I really enjoy reading fantasy novels, hiking, collecting insects, playing tennis, and drawing different animals!

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? In the past year, I’ve had incredible opportunities to explore two fascinating areas of science: virology and paleontology. My first research experience was working on annotating the genomes of four newly discovered bacteria viruses, called bacteriophages. Annotating genomes is a matter of cross-referencing online gene databases and reference genomes of other viruses to determine the functions of individual genes in an organism’s entire genetic sequence. A group of peers and I were then able to analyze a specific set of reproductive genes in one of our phages, called the lysis cassette. These are the genes that break down the cell wall of the host bacteria cell for reproduction. The order and quantity of these genes is wildly varied across bacteriophage genomes. We were testing the hypothesis that our bacteriophage would possess a unique composition of its lysis cassette as compared to other bacteriophages. We found that the specific order, quantity, and length of the genes in our bacteriophage’s lysis cassette was entirely unique compared to its relative viruses. The end goal of this bacteriophage genome project is to better understand why these lysis cassette genes diversified in such a way.

A group of five people smiling for a photo together in front of a research poster about bacteriophages.
Me and my peers worked together to create this poster that we presented at our university’s undergraduate research conference.

I’ve also recently begun a project in a paleontology lab that will provide some insight into the regional diversity of marine animals during the Mississippian Period, around 359–323 million years ago. I’m currently working on the first step of the project, which is simply separating the grain sizes of the sediment collected from Mississippian-age rocks in southern Illinois, USA to begin to identify the fossils present.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? I have always loved animals, and I always knew I wanted to go into an animal science field before I could comprehend what science was. When I got older and realized that people out there spent their whole careers studying animals and the ways they work and interact with the world, I knew that had to be me. I became interested in insects, in particular, when I read a book about them and realized just how underappreciated they are. We see so many insects every day, but most people tend not to regard them much. Even worse, we know so little about so many of them! I knew I wanted to go into the entomology field and contribute to knowing more about these animals. Every research experience I’ve had so far has broadened the way I now imagine one could study insects—from virology to paleontology, everything applies! My favorite part about science is the exciting feeling I get when I ask “why” and no one has an answer–it’s knowing that the story has yet to be finished, and all I want to do is figure out how it ends!

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? I hope that the research I have contributed to thus far will better our understanding of the world around us and the evolutionary history that has led to it. Understanding the diversity in things as small as bacteriophage reproductive genes may help us to develop effective medical applications to treat bacterial infections and understanding the past diversity patterns of extinct fauna helps us better comprehend the changes that can impact our past and present climate and ecosystems.

What advice do you have for up-and-coming scientists? The best advice I can think of is to not let the fear of rejection or inadequacy hold you back. The absolute worst you can get back from asking about an opportunity is a ‘no’, which pales in comparison to the absolute best you could get back. You can’t let your own idea of how smart or capable a scientist should be hold you back from what you want to do. You are more than capable of pushing past those times that you mess up or feel unqualified.

Elizabeth Altier, Masters Student

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a woman toasts the camera with a paper cup. She has short blue and blonde hair, tied back, a grey t-shirt, and smile on her face; she sits at a wooded table with grassy salt marsh and blue sky behind her.
Nice to meet you!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. My name is Elizabeth, and I use she/her. I’m currently pursuing a Masters in Geosciences from the University of South Florida. I grew up in upstate New York, near Ithaca, and hold a B.A. in Geology from Oberlin College. My hobbies include arts and crafts of all kinds (most recently, I started glassblowing!), baking, and videogames. I love museums, libraries, and driving long distances for things I could get at home.

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I’m a paleontologist! My undergraduate research investigated the systematics of Turritella, a cone-shaped species of sea snail. Turritella is a very common fossil, and thus has been identified and reidentified many times. Our group set out to find which of these identifications were true and represented distinct groups of organisms, and which ones were the same species under separate names (or different species under the same name), not to mention if Turritella in the fossil record could even be identified to a species level. To answer these questions , I measured and described a lot of specimens from types, a distinction used for the first named and described specimen that provide the reference for all the ones of the same species discovered after, and published figures. I’ve also spent a significant amount of time in museums—most recently, I helped curate a collection of oysters from Louisiana belonging to the Paleontological Research Institution. Now, I’m in my first semester of my master’s degree, studying invertebrate paleontology at USF.

woman with blonde and blue hair, white mask, and a blue shirt. She is standing in front of Acrocanthosaurus skull, a large therapod dinosaur with sharp teeth.
Two earthlings, Acrocanthasaurus and me.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? Like many others in this field, I was a kid who loved dinosaurs who grew into an adult who loved fossils. I remember demanding that my kindergarten teacher spell paleontologist for me when we learned about careers. As a college freshman, I took an introductory geology class and was hooked. I was very lucky to be supported by a family to whom science is very important – in fact, inspired by my love of dinosaurs, my mother started working as a museum educator. I spent a few years after graduating from my undergraduate institution, serving with the AmeriCorps program City Year and working in a library, but I’m glad to be back. I love being a scientist! I love being able to think and ask questions and solve puzzles for a living.

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? With an accurate understanding of their species, Turritella can be a great index fossil. Index fossils are used to identify and date the rock layers in which they are found, and, to be useful index fossils, they must be common, widespread, and have been around for a relatively short slice of history. If Turritella can be used to provide precise and accurate temporal information of the many, many rock layers they are in, we can use them to understand the history of an area more broadly. For example, finding Turritella of the same species in two distant rock outcrops shows us that they are the same layer and allows us to say with specificity how many millions of years ago that layer was formed. This, ultimately, helps fill in puzzle pieces of our knowledge of the earth. I think just being a scientist in the world helps society, too- being able to show people the complexity of the earth in little moments really matters.

What advice do you have for up and coming scientists? Two things: one, people want to help you. Many scientists remember when they were you, just starting out. Finding a mentor is worth it. Two, there is a place here for everyone. I remember being hesitant about geology because I’m not super outdoorsy and field camps can be inaccessible for me; when I learned could work predominantly in the lab or museums, it changed a lot for me. There are a lot of ways to be a paleontologist that are not the “traditional” way. The usual stuff sort of advice, too. Try new things. There is no time limit on this. Be enthusiastic. Be patient. Be kind. You got this.

two women, both wearing jeans and t shirts, masks, and gardening gloves, pass a cardboard box between them. The one on the left stands in the back of a tractor trailer, the one on the right in the back of a pickup truck.
Sometimes paleontology is moving a hundred boxes of oysters out of the back of a tractor trailer. Photo from Bridget Kelly.

Katie Jamson, Micropaleontologist

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Background is a bright blue cloudless sky with dark trees on the horizon line. The foreground has a person in a kayak with another kayak paddle close to the bottom of the image.
Kayaking in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Originally from the United Kingdom, I made the exciting move to Canada in 2021 to pursue my PhD. Since arriving here, I have become a keen runner both on the road and on the trails (dodging the bears and cougars!). I enjoy any activities outdoors including hiking, kayaking, and have even explored parts of British Columbia by canoe. I have also started truly immersing myself into Canadian culture by regularly watching hockey and I now avidly support the Vancouver Canucks! Living in Victoria on Vancouver Island has deepened my connection with the ocean, fostering a profound appreciation for this stunning place that I am lucky enough to call home. I am fortunate enough to be living on the traditional territories of the Lkwungen (Lekwungen) peoples whose historical relationships with the land still continue to this day.

Background is blue sky, green tree filled hill side with foreground being dark choppy water with a canoe with two people. The front person is holding their paddle above their head.
Portaging around the Powell River Lake Circuit, British Columbia.

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? As a PhD candidate at the University of Victoria, I specialize in utilizing extensive microfossil datasets from the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) to unravel the complex relationships between the world’s oceans and climate over the past 65 million years. I use these datasets to generate maps of how microfossils such as planktic foraminifera, diatoms, and radiolarians have influenced deep ocean sedimentation patterns and how this relationship has changed over time. I do this using well constrained models of the Earth’s tectonic movements through the Cenozoic (~66 million years ago to present day). Additionally, two of my PhD chapters focus on the Miocene (~23-5 million years ago) where I am conducting work in the laboratory. Here, I am processing IODP deep sea drilling cores from different ocean basins to investigate how climate and tectonic shifts during this dynamic period of time have impacted upon ocean sedimentation and plankton ecology. I do this primarily by looking at abundance counts of the different carbonate- and silica-producing organisms present in the samples.

Person in a laboratory setting looking through a microscope.
Looking at an IODP sample under the microscope.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? I have always had an interest in both geography and biology growing up, however, my first field trip to Iceland in 2012 was what really inspired me to study for my undergraduate degree at the University of Exeter, England, in physical geography. Here, I specialised in peatland ecosystems and reconstructing past environments over the last ~8000 years, tracking ash cloud movements across Europe. I achieved this by looking at crypto-tephra, which are microscopic fragments of volcanic ash that are incredibly well-preserved in peatland environments across the globe. During this degree, I fell in love with being able to get a snapshot of what the world would have looked like in the past, and I went on to get my Masters in Paleobiology at the University of Bristol. This is where I moved into deep-sea micropaleontology and studying the evolution of planktic organisms over much longer time periods. One of the most rewarding aspects of being a scientist is engaging with my peers and discussing our research together. As the first paleontology student in my department at the University of Victoria, I had a unique perspective of only being able to converse with colleagues about my work who were on the peripheries of my field. As a result, I gained incredible insight and learned so much from others that have allowed me to approach my work in a more holistic way.

Person in a field holding a block thak that is covered in dirt.
This is me during my undergraduate research holding a peat core section on Dartmoor, England.

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? Studying the impact of climate upon planktic evolution and sedimentation rates through periods of warming and cooling across our global oceans provides critical insights into how marine ecosystems and environments might respond to future warming scenarios. By studying these historic patterns, we can better anticipate and understand the potential impacts of climate change on our oceans. I have the privilege of sharing these findings and interests, not only at conferences but also through my teaching role. As an instructor for laboratory sections in Paleobiology and Geological Oceanography classes, I teach third year undergraduate students in exploring the profound importance and influence of extinction events, tectonic processes, and oceanographic changes on evolution—from the earliest life forms to those that persist to the present day.

What advice do you have for up and coming scientists? Everyone in academia is intelligent, stand out by being kind 😊

Lorna Kearns, Palaeoecologist & Palaeoceanographer

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On fieldwork in Texas sampling an outcrop of Cretaceous sediment to understand local conditions prior to the extinction event. Photo credit Chris Lowery.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am from the Northwest of the UK so was incredibly fortunate to grow up surrounded by national parks such as Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) and the UK coast. Thanks to this upbringing I am passionate about the outdoors and enjoy walking, cycling, bird watching and paddleboarding. I also enjoy travelling and have been lucky enough to visit some amazing places through my research. When I am at home, I enjoy cooking and exploring new cuisines.

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I find it quite hard to define what I do but broadly I am a palaeoecologist. My research focuses on understanding ecosystem responses and recovery from environmental stress using single celled marine organisms called foraminifera. Using a combination of techniques including geochemistry, statistical analyses and more recently micro-CT scanning I can understand how these marine organisms were growing, living, and evolving over millions of years and how that relates to the climate through geological time. I love learning new techniques and combining them with traditional methods to view ecosystems from a new perspective. One of the great things about my research is I get to wander through geological time and investigate interesting periods for example my current research focuses on ocean recovery following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event (the one that killed the dinosaurs) but I am now also working on projects related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis when the Mediterranean Sea dried up.

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? I have always been interested in science, even as a small child I loved reading books about volcanoes and marine life. I really enjoyed science in school but really struggled with the pure science aspects, especially anything involving math, which I always felt would hold me back from being a scientist. Luckily, I had a great support network, and I was able to overcome a lot of these struggles and gain a place at the University of Leeds to study geology, a subject I was always curious about but never saw myself doing as a career. 14 years later and I’m still studying geology, so it was definitely a good choice! Geology turned out to be the ideal subject as it combine all the sciences to understand the world we live in. I am still intimidated by maths but try to push through that so much so that most of my research involves statistics and coding something I would never have though possible even five years ago. One of my favorite things about being a scientist, and a geologist, is the opportunity to travel. I have been able to visit at least six different countries including Chile and New Zealand and have participated in research expeditions to the South Atlantic and currently the Tyrrhenian Sea.

This is me on-board RRS Discovery in the South Atlantic standing next to the sediment cores we had just collected from the Falkland Plateau.

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? A lot of my research focuses on understanding how ecosystems respond to climatic events which is really important and fundamental to understanding how ecosystems will respond to current and future human induced warming events. There is a lot of focus on ecosystem restoration in current scientific policy, particularly in the marine environment, yet there are still a lot of gaps in our understanding of recovery processes. My research works to address these gaps by using various events in geological time and uncovering the patterns and processes of ecosystem recovery. By filling in these gaps policy makers can make more informed decisions about marine restoration projects and marine monitoring.

What advice do you have for prospective scientists? I have been extremely fortunate to have had amazing mentors in my career and have therefore been given a lot of useful advice. The best piece of advice I’ve been given was to be patient. There is a pressure to continuously get results and keep moving on to bigger and better things and it’s very easy to get caught up in that mentality. But science takes time and sometimes in your career it can be much more beneficial to maybe take a sidestep and learn something new rather than pushing forward all the time. I still struggle with this advice but now try and take a step back before making big decisions. Another great piece of advice that is applicable for everyone is to write everything down. You might think you will remember, but you won’t! Even now I refer to notebooks from 8-10 years ago to get information or to go back to ideas I had but never had time to explore.

Victoria Pavlovics, Graduate Student and Rock Magnetist

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Victoria’s shipboard role is being a paleomagnetist.

Field work summer of ’22, Central Mongolia. The research team discusses structural geology problems. Victoria joined as a member of the Utah Paleomagnetic Center at the University of Utah.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Describe your hobbies and interests outside of science. I spend a lot of time outdoors; skiing, hiking, rollerblading or skateboarding. I also read lots of fantasy books and enjoy listening to live music. I try to travel as often as I can and immerse myself in different cultures.

What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? I am a graduate student and I identify as a Rock Magnetist. I analyze the magnetic properties of rocks and minerals to learn more about geological processes, environmental conditions, and the history of Earth’s magnetic field. I am passionate about early geoscience education. I spent a year working with a local middle school, bringing hands-on experiments and facilitating field trips revolving around earth science and geology. I volunteer at outreach events as often as I can. 

Field work summer of ’22, Central Mongolia. Another image of the research team discussing geology.
Field work summer of ’22, Central Mongolia. I am using a Brunton to take an oriented hand sample for paleomag (to interpret the magnetic signal of the Earth from deep time).

What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? I have a very non-linear path. I took a few years off between high school and college, working at a local bar with no thought about higher education. I decided to go back to school and entered college as an anthropology major, took one geology course and fell in love. Our Geoclub held field trips every long weekend, where I was able to spend time camping outside with friends and learning about rocks. It is those moments that made me want to become a geologist. I also have an undergraduate degree in anthropology. I try to use it as often as possible, with my senior thesis being an archeo-magnetic study on Floridan potsherds. I am also currently involved in geoarchaeology research on roman concrete. I am president of Energy Club (an adaption of AAPG) at the University of Utah. With this club, I coordinate monthly seminars with industry professionals with the aim of teaching undergraduate student’s transferable skills (importance of machine learning in geoscience, adobe Illustrator for figure making, etc) and sharing career trajectories (hosting career panels filled with government, industry, and academics). We also hold a yearly department poster session with monetary awards for both graduate and undergraduate students. This coming year, we hope to hold an “earth science art exhibit” where students and professors can show off their artistic side with paintings of field sites, ‘beautiful’ data sets, and even a ‘bake your thesis’ category. 

Field work in the Tetons in Wyoming, we had to get helicoptered in and we camped on the ice!

How did you learn about scientific ocean drilling? I told my advisor I would love to be on a research vessel and he shared with me the call for a paleomagnetist for this expedition.

How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? Magneto stratigraphy helps us date sediments. Rock magnetism can tell us about the strength and direction of the magnetic field at a certain time and location. It is also used to better understand tectonic processes. 

More field photos from the ice after we helicoptered in. ! I assisted a friend with their work, acting as a geotech as they cored lake sediments for paleoclimate studies.

What advice do you have for prospective scientists? It truly is for anyone! People from all different backgrounds find their way into geoscience.

Have you received a piece of advice from your friends/mentors/advisors that has helped you navigate your career? Don’t be in a rush. Do what makes you excited, doing it fast while stressed out helps no one.

Camping and conducting research on the ice.