The Microscopists

#20 — In this episode of The Microscopists, we’re joined by Yannick Schwab of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Heidelberg, who is one of the pioneers of correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM).

We’ll discuss why Yannick considers himself such a lucky scientist and the role that serendipity has played in his career. We’ll also learn more about who has inspired Yannick in his career and why he feels motivated to pay it forward.

We’ll also discover how Yannick likes to spend his time off (prepare for some impressive holiday snaps), why nothing beats the smell of bread baking in the morning, and what his infamous ‘seminar face’ is!

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#19 — Prepare for some serious houseplant envy in this episode of The Microscopists, as we talk to the multi-talented Jennifer Waters (@JenCWaters), Director of the Nikon Imaging Center at Harvard Medical School. As well as directing the core facility and creating the successful Microcourses YouTube channel, Jennifer runs the Quantitative Imaging course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She also received a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Imaging Scientist award in 2019. And she still finds time to water her 100 plus houseplants!

We’ll discuss Jennifer’s favorite microscope, her career highlights – and challenges, and why she needs four different sewing machines.

Join us for this insightful and inspiring chat as we learn more about Jennifer’s passion for plants, painting, and pepperoni pizza.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#18 — You may know Anne Carpenter best as the brains behind the CellProfiler™ image analysis software, but today we learn more about what makes Anne tick, how she dealt with imposter syndrome, the challenges of setting up a lab and starting a family simultaneously, and her love of baking.

We’ll learn more about Anne’s move from life sciences to computer science, how her Valentine’s Day roses ended up being dissected by her children, and her love for home renovation shows. Anne also discusses the potential clinical impact of machine learning in the future and her next big career challenge.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#17 — There’s no question that Ernst H. K. Stelzer is a key figure in the world of high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, but did you know that his love of physics stemmed from a desire to build a time machine?

In this down-to-earth chat with the pioneer of confocal 4Pi fluorescence microscopy, we’ll discuss why scientists need to be able to take risks in their research, how Ernst also worries about pursuing the right research, and how problems should be seen as opportunities.

We’ll also learn more about Ernst’s inspirations, his bond with his grandfather, playing Age of Empires with his grandchildren, and his history of losing luggage while travelling.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

In memory of Spencer Shorte.

#16 — Spencer Shorte was the Chief Scientific Officer of Institut Pasteur Korea, the creator of the Imagopol, and the founder of the core facility software company Stratocore. When he spoke to us, we learned about the globetrotting that led Spencer to Korea, the challenges that he has faced in his career, and his favorite publication.

We got to know Spencer on a more personal level as well, discussing his love of James Bond, his penchant for stout, and how he ended up driving the wrong way down one of the longest one-way streets in Paris.

Spencer also opened up about his views on the role of science in society and how it was only when returning to Europe after a stint in the United States that he worked out what he really wanted to do in science.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#15 — Along with becoming a Dame, Ottoline Leyser also recently became Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a UK body dedicated to building a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system. In this informal discussion, Ottoline explains what the UKRI does and shows us just why she’s a perfect fit.

Discussing her career move, we find out if she has any regrets about leaving the lab and how monthly sanity checks help her juggle the full-time responsibilities of heading the UKRI with managing her research lab.

She also touches on more personal matters, including how her late husband was critical to her career success and why her children made her a better scientist.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#14 — You may feel you know Rita Strack (Senior Editor at Nature Methods) already if you follow her engaging and friendly twitter feed (@rita_strack). But here we delve deeper to uncover her very successful academic career involving developing fluorescent proteins and reporters, her love of horses and a passion for Korean food.

We find out the type of abuse that editors sometimes face, and how they handle it, how she balances a career and family life, including during a pandemic, and the dangers of pet bunnies.  Rita gives her unique perspective on what she thinks was the greatest invention in microscopy, and where the future is headed.

Make sure you listen to the end to hear Rita deliver her favourite science joke.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#13 — You may know Rainer Heintzmann (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) as one of the pioneers of structured illumination microscopy (SIM) but here we delve more into the man behind the science, where we discover a breath of interests including gliding, skiing, dancing and 3D printing.

Rainer’s undergraduate studies may have taken him a lengthy 6 years to complete, yet he transitioned from PhD student to group leader at King’s College London in just 5 years.

While Rainer confesses he watches too much TV, he does admit to preferring books. His bookshelf gives away a passion for fantasy with notable titles including ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ and ‘Wise Man’s fear’. Take a look and see what books can you spot!

As the topic turns to more serious discussions, we discover that an important role for a group leader is to be a mentor and look out for lab members who may be dealing with difficult issues.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: http://bit.ly/the-microscopists-pds

#12 — This episode of The Microscopists was recorded LIVE with a very special guest - Eric Betzig!

We already know so much about Eric, but I hope that our chat will reveal more about the man behind the many ingenious contributions to the world of microscopy, life sciences, and science in general.

While Eric is well known for receiving the 2014 Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with Stefan Hell and William Moerner for developing super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, you might be surprised to hear that he doesn’t consider himself a chemist at all.

Join us as we talk about the challenges and excitement of building a living room microscope, moving from academia to industry and back again, and how being a house husband led to a scientific breakthrough.

As this was recorded as a live event, the audience had the opportunity to put their own questions to Eric. Coffee or tea? Omnivore or Vegan? Ultrastructure or cellular dynamics?

While we don’t quite get the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, we do get to know Eric Betzig on a personal level.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/

#11 — Petra is a dedicated high flyer that simply loves her work (and her music, for which there is little she cannot play to concert level!). We chat about how she was given very little PhD supervision but encouraged to simply explore.

We also discuss her time in the USA before returning to Germany where she has become a Director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry.

Not only high flying at work, Petra also has a head for heights that she reveals as we talk about raising and balancing family life, her hobbies which include climbing and yes…music! Watch/listen to this ‘classical’ podcast.

Watch or Listen to all episodes of The Microscopists here: https://themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com/