Dr. Barbara Katzenback is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo. Barb studies how frogs defend themselves from diseases to stay alive, and she also investigates how the environments that frogs live in impact their ability to defend against diseases. Frogs and other amphibians are critical components of the food web, they are important for pest control, they are indicators for the health of their environment, and they produce interesting molecules on the surface of their skin that may have relevance for human health. Barb’s hobbies outside of science include engaging in a variety of physical activities like running, yoga, and hiking with her husband and two dogs. She’s also experimented with soccer, spin classes, cross country skiing, rock climbing, and inner tube water polo. Some of her other interests include pottery, art, crafting, baking, gardening, sewing, and leisure reading. Barb earned her BSc with Honors in Immunology and Infection from the University of Alberta. She received her PhD in Physiology, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of Alberta as well. Barb was next awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at Carleton University, followed by an NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at the University of Waterloo before joining the faculty there. In our interview, Barb speaks more about her experiences in life and science.

Dr. Michael Middlebrooks is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Tampa. Michael’s research focuses on various species of sea slugs, particularly a group called the Sacaglossan sea slugs. Some of them have developed the ability to use chloroplasts from the algae they eat to become photosynthetic themselves. Michael studies how being a photosynthetic animal can change their ecology and their interactions with other organisms. He also does some work on seagrass restoration and how this affects plant-animal interactions. Scuba diving is Michael’s favorite thing in the world to do, and he’s able to explore the underwater world and look for cool animals both for work and in his free time. In addition, he enjoys listening to live music and reading. He received his B.S. in biology from Florida State University and his Ph.D. in Integrative biology from the University of South Florida. He remained at the University of South Florida to conduct postdoctoral research before joining the faculty at the University of Tampa. Michael was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award from the University of Tampa as well as the University’s Outstanding Student Research Supervisor Award from the College of Natural and Health Sciences there. In this interview, he shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Satesh Bidaisee is a Professor of Public Health and Preventative Medicine and Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies at St. George’s University in Grenada. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Center for Global Health at Old Dominion University and a Visiting Professor at Chitkara University in India and at Kasetsart University in Thailand. Many aspects of human health are linked with conditions in our environment. Satesh’s research aims to identify and understand environmental factors that can impact human health, both positively and negatively. One of Satesh’s passions outside of science is aviation. He has been fascinated by aircraft since childhood, and for the past decade, Satesh has enjoyed flying throughout the Caribbean region as a private pilot. Satesh received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree (D.V.M.) from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, a Master’s of Science (M.S.) degree in Public Health from St. George’s University, and a Doctor of Education Degree (Ed.D.) from the University of Sheffield. Prior to joining the faculty at St. George’s University, Satesh held positions at the University of Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Ministry of Health in Trinidad and Tobago. Satesh is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health, the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the International Society on Infectious Diseases, and the Society of Biology. He is also board certified by the United States National Board of Public Health Examiners. In our interview, Satesh shared his experiences in life and science.

Dr. Karine Gaelle Le Roch is a Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease and Vector Research at the University of California, Riverside. Karine’s research focuses on parasites, and much of her work has focused on the parasite that causes malaria in humans. She is working to better understand the life cycle of the parasite, how the molecular components in its body work together, and how the parasite’s function can be disrupted after a person has been infected in order to treat and cure malaria. When she’s not doing science, Karine enjoys sailing in the San Diego Bay, skiing in the winter, spending time with her son, and watching him play soccer. She received her BA in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University Paris-Sorbonne, her MS in host-parasite interactions between Oxford University in the UK and the University of Lille in France, and her PhD in Parasitology and host-parasite interactions from the University Paris-Sorbonne. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and subsequently she was an Institute Fellow at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation. Karine joined the faculty at UCR in 2006. She has earned various honors and awards throughout her career, including the Academic Senate Regent Award for Outstanding Research from the University of California, she was a participant in the Provost Faculty Leadership Program at UCR and the University of California’s Women’s Initiative for Professional Development. In our interview, Karine shares more about her life and science.

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.