Dr. Rebecca Wattam is a Research Associate Professor in the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory within the Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech. Rebecca is the outreach and biology lead for a bioinformatics research center that scientists use to share and analyze their data on bacteria and bacterial genomes. This research center was originally funded to study bacteria that can make us sick in order to develop vaccines, identify drug targets, and predict outbreaks of illnesses. However, there are a lot of beneficial types of bacterial that are also now being studied based on their use for fermentation, alternate energy sources, probiotics, and other purposes. Rebecca is particularly interested in examining the similarities and differences between groups of bacteria. Living in Blacksburg, Virginia, Rebecca is close to the beautiful Appalachian Trail. She spends much of her free time hiking, canoeing, exploring the outdoors, and watching the wildlife. Rebecca received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of New Mexico in Biology. Next, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned a joint Ph.D. degree in Entomology and Veterinary Science. Rebecca received a MacArthur Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and she completed a second postdoctoral fellowship there as well before accepting a position on the faculty at Virginia Tech. In our interview, Rebecca speaks more about her experiences in life and science.

Dr. Catherine Emily Carr is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park. In the lab, Catherine is interested in understanding how animals perceive their environment. This work involves observing animal behavior in the field, as well as laboratory studies to try to understand the biology of how different fish, birds, and reptiles use their senses and their nervous systems to perceive the world around them. Much of Catherine’s recent work has focused on hearing and how animals use the sounds they perceive and produce. Lately, Catherine has enjoyed spending her free time reading and doing volunteer work for the Maryland State Park system. As a volunteer she has been removing invasive species, like English Ivy and Japanese honeysuckle, from her local parks in an effort to restore the native habitats. Catherine received her undergraduate training in Zoology with first class honors at the University of Cape Town, and she completed her M.A. degree in biology at the State University New York at Buffalo. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. Afterwards, Catherine conducted postdoctoral research at CalTech, and she served briefly on the faculty at the University of Rochester before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland in 1990. She has served as a course director and co-director at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and has served as President, Director, and a Trustee for the Glass Foundation. Catherine has received numerous awards and honors over the years, including an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and she was awarded the Humboldt Senior Research Prize twice. She is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, and the International Society for Neuroethology. She received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Southern Denmark, and she was named Mentor of the Year in the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program at the University of Maryland. In this interview, she shares more about her life and science.

Dr. James O'Dwyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Biology and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The research in James’s lab uses computational and theoretical approaches to better understand the patterns we observe in the world. He is an ecologist and is particularly interested in biological complexity. The goal of his lab is to build models and make predictions that will provide us with novel and unexpected information about how nature works. In his free time, James enjoys hiking, traveling, and strategic board games like Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride. He was awarded a master's degree in Physics from the University of Durham, as well as a master's and PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge. James was awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship conducting research at the University of Oregon and the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and he was also awarded an Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Santa Fe Institute before accepting his current position. James is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Jonathan (Jony) Kipnis is a BJC Investigator and the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is also Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Neurosurgery and Director of the Brain Immunology and Glia Center there. Jony is a neuroimmunologist. He works at the intersection of the immune system and the nervous system. The brain controls immune system activity, and the immune system affects brain function. The two work together to ensure our survival and well-being. Jony's research is improving our understanding of how they interact when we’re healthy and in cases of nervous system damage or disease. When he’s not working, Jony loves to read a good book, enjoy a nice glass of wine, cook, and eat delicious food. He particularly has a passion for grilling. He completed his BSc in Biology at Tel Aviv University, and he received his MSc in Neurobiology and PhD in Neuroimmunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Jony worked on the faculty at the University of Virginia for over a decade before joining the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. He has received numerous awards and honors, including an NIH/NIA MERIT Award, the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Harrison Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professorship in Neuroscience, a Gutenberg Research College fellowship from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, and the Distinguished Research Career Development Award from the University of Virginia. He is also a Member of the National Academy of Medicine. In this interview, Jony shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Susan Wessler is a Distinguished Professor of Genetics at the University of California, Riverside. She is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and the Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences. Sue is a geneticist whose research focuses on transposable elements, which are pieces of DNA that move from one site to another. In the process of moving they often make more copies. All organisms have these pieces of mobile DNA, and they make up a large portion of our genome. Sue wants to know how organisms survive and thrive with all this extra DNA, why it exists, and whether it provides any benefits. Outside of science, Sue loves to read, exercise, and read while exercising. She has also been enjoying exploring the mountains and beaches in Southern California. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from Cornell University. Susan then spent time as a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institute of Washington. She served on the faculty at the University of Georgia for over 25 years before moving to UC Riverside. Susan has received many awards and honors over the course of her career. She is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a member of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also the recipient of the Stephen Hales Prize from the American Society of Plant Biologists the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Excellence in Science Award, and the McClintock Award from the Maize Genetics. Susan is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Ruchira Singh is an Associate Professor and the recipient of the Dean’s Professorship in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester Medical Center where she also has joint appointments in the Department of Biomedical Genetics and the Center for Visual Science. Ruchira studies eye diseases to understand why some people can’t see as well as others, and the knowledge gained can be used to develop new treatments for diseases like age-related macular degeneration and Batten disease, which can cause blindness. When she’s not working, Ruchira loves spending time with her two kids. Even the small, everyday moments they spend together doing things like going to McDonalds, the park, or their local library bring her so much joy. Ruchira received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in India, and she completed her graduate studies in Physiology at Kansas State University. Next, Ruchira conducted postdoctoral research in Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine, followed by a postdoc position in stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in 2014. In this interview, Ruchira discusses her life and science.

Dr. Philip Moriarty is a Professor of Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham. In addition, he is an avid contributor to the Sixty Symbols YouTube video project and author of the book When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11: Or How to Explain Quantum Physics with Heavy Metal. Philip is an enthusiastic heavy metal music fan, so he spends his free time listening to rock and other types of music. He also plays a few instruments, including guitar and Aerodrums. The work in Philip’s research group focuses on imaging and moving single atoms on different surfaces. He is a nanoscientist, his lab's goals are to develop methods for computer-controlled manipulation of matter and 3D printing where you can build materials and objects from individual atoms. Philip received his Ph.D. in Physical Sciences from Dublin City University, and he conducted postdoctoral research in physics at the University of Nottingham before joining the faculty there. Over the course of his career, Philip has received a number of awards and honors, including being a member of the Sixty Symbols team awarded the 2016 Kelvin Medal from the Institute of Physics for innovative and effective promotion of the public understanding of physics, and he was also a winner of the 2015 I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here Terbium Zone contest. In our interview Philip shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Patrick Schloss is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan. As a microbial ecologist, Pat is fascinated by bacterial communities. He believes that bacterial communities in and on us are interacting with each other and with us, to keep us healthy. If something goes wrong with these communities, then we need to figure out how to get them back on track so they can help us stay healthy. Pat also has a knack for bioinformatics and enjoys building tools for computational analysis. Pat spends most of his free time with his 8 kids. They live just outside of Ann Arbor on a farm with sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens. Working on the farm is a good way to escape the stress of science, and it’s also nice for Pat to sit down to dinner at the end of the day and think about how everything on their plates came from within a mile of their own farm. After completing his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, Pat stayed on to receive his PhD. Both degrees were in Biological & Environmental Engineering. He went on to do his postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin and served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst before joining the faculty at the University of Michigan where he is today. In this interview, Pat shares stories from his life and science.