Pride in Science

Pride in Science “The field needs you, so be proud and confident pursuing a career in science” – Claudia Wascher, PhD “Know that you’re valuable, important and that your experiences and contributions are vital to the work that we do” – Daniel Gillis, PhD “Don’t hesitate to pursue the type of research important to you or to the community you belong to” – Jui-Lin Chen, PhD Alyssa Scott 4 Charlotte G. Roughton 6 Christina Atchison, PhD 8 Clara Barker, PhD 10 Claudia Wascher, PhD 12 Daniel Gillis, PhD 14 Drake McCrimmon 16 Emma Waters, PhD 18 Gabi Fleury 20 Güneş Taylor, DPhil 22 Izzy Jayasinghe, PhD 24 Jamie Gallagher, PhD 26 Josh Makepeace, DPhil 28 Jui-Lin Chen, PhD 30 Justin C. Luong, PhD 32 Kristal Cain, PhD 34 Sebastian Groh, PhD 36 Contents 2 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM 3 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Foreword Pride in Science According to an article published in Science Advances, LGBTQIA+ persons were more likely than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers to experience social marginalization, harassment and limited career opportunities, and in a survey conducted by the Institute of Physics, Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry, 49% of respondents agreed that there was an overall lack of awareness of LGBTQIA+ issues in the workplace. Each year since the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969, June has served as Pride Month, a month dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of LGBTQIA+ people and culture. Here at Technology Networks, we want to use this opportunity to shine a light on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals studying and working in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). This eBook contains a selection of interviews from LQBTQIA+ individuals at various stages of their careers, in which they share information on their research, experiences, opinions and ideas to inspire the next generation. 4 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM In 2017, after graduating from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Biological Oceanography, Alyssa worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as an acoustician mapping the migration patterns of North Atlantic right whales, kogia and sperm whales. This work sparked an interest in the ecology and physiology of marine mammals, so she transitioned to working as the stranding coordinator for the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network in Friday Harbor, WA. Through this job, Alyssa discovered the field of pinnipedology – the science of seals and sea lions – and decided to focus on pinniped research. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of North Carolina Wilmington investigating the ecological changes experienced by Antarctic crabeater seals due to sea ice loss and prey habitat redistribution incurred by climate change. In this interview, we spoke to Alyssa to learn more about her research into the effects of climate change on seals, and her experiences in STEMM. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: Broadly speaking, my research interests include investigating the ecology and physiology of mammals, specifically marine mammals. I’m interested in understanding how animals interact with their environment and how they adapt to changing conditions. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I love adding to our greater knowledge about the health and functions of our natural environment. I love the process of asking questions, seeking innovative ways to research the question at hand, and finding answers. Additionally, I love the rugged nature of fieldwork – battling seas while in transit to a field site, getting pelted in the face by sand during gale-force winds, or evading the gnarly bite of a seal – every day is a new and unexpected adventure. Being an early-career scientist, one of my greatest achievements is having gotten to experience as much as I have for my age. From traveling to Antarctica for research to conducting health assessments on seals on remote islands, I feel extremely grateful (and privileged) for being able to experience the wide breadth of research I’ve taken part in thus far. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: Science has shown that, compared to their nonLGBTQIA+ counterparts, LGBTQIA+ STEMM professionals are more likely to experience career limitations, harassment and professional devaluation, Alyssa Scott Alyssa Scott is a PhD student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and identifies as a cis-gender queer woman. Kate Harrison, PhD Pride in Science 5 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science leading to LGBTQIA+ folks having a higher rate of leaving the STEMM field (Cech and Waidzunas, 2021). The reason for this is multifaceted. For one, the diversity of many STEMM fields has lagged behind other male-dominated professions. This issue does not only affect LGBTQIA+ people, but society as a whole; without diversity in STEMM we hinder our innovation, as it’s known that a diverse group provides more insight and perspective than a homogenous team. To amend these issues, there should be an effort to put LGBTQIA+ professionals in high-level roles to provide representation and top-down changes. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: While I haven’t experienced any blatant harassment, I have experienced obstacles. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, I became acquainted with queer acceptance being a part of my everyday life. However, when I began to consider accepting my current PhD position located in North Carolina, I experienced heightened anxiety about the idea of living in a predominately conservative southern state – which I wouldn’t have felt if I were heterosexual. I think this type of obstacle – the emotional toll of having to constantly think about what others might think of me and my sexuality – is a common narrative in many LGBTQIA+ lives. Whether we experience implicit or explicit biases may vary, but I can guarantee we all have had to consider at one point or another whether we’re safe in a room, on a street, or in a workplace setting. The constant mental processing of my safety and acceptance is emotionally and physically taxing. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: My advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers is to 1) find your community, and 2) educate those around you. Finding your community, whether they are LGBTQIA+ folks or allies, is important to feel comfortable and safe in a working environment. And while educating those around you may not be a possibility for everyone depending on their level of comfort, it’s critical to educate our non-LGBTQIA+ peers. That said, if you don’t have the emotional capacity to be someone’s token queer person allow yourself leniency to realize that it’s also not your responsibility to educate everyone about LGBTQIA+ topics. But if you can provide resources, you’d be helping the greater community and the LGBTQIA+ folks that person interacts with in the future. Alyssa Scott was speaking to Dr. Kate Harrison, Science Writer for Technology Networks. 6 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Charlotte G. Roughton Charlotte Roughton is a third year PhD student at Newcastle University who identifies as an autistic queer woman. Lucy Lawrence Charlotte completed a BSc in Biomedical Sciences in 2019, followed by a MSc (Res) at Durham University. Her interest in the virulence mechanisms of pathogenic bacteria lead her to her current role, where she researches the molecular mechanisms of sporulation in the superbug Clostridioides difficile. During this interview, we had the privilege of discussing Charlotte’s research, the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ researchers and her personal experience working in STEMM. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: I’ve always found microbes interesting, particularly those that cause disease. I’m fascinated by how exactly pathogens can cause such catastrophic harm to a comparatively enormous host, and crucially, how we can utilize this knowledge for the benefit of our health. Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health crisis, so it’s vital that we understand more about the fundamental biology of antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens such that we can find alternative and targeted ways of treating these infections. Currently, I am working on the multi-drug resistant superbug Clostridioides difficile, which is the most common cause of hospital-acquired diarrhoea. I’m using biochemistry and microbiology techniques to understand more about how this pathogen forms hardy, dormant spores that facilitate transmission of infection. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I enjoy the innovative and collaborative nature of STEMM, and playing a role in bringing us that little bit closer to understanding more about the biology of pathogens that threaten our health. I also enjoy the extracurricular opportunities it has provided – it has helped me discover a love for teaching, science communication and outreach. However, my proudest achievements don’t actually relate to my academic research. My PhD has and continues to be incredibly challenging. It can be difficult not to take setbacks and the inevitable frustrations of academic research as a personal blow – I really am my own harshest critic. It’s taken some extensive internal work to uncouple my sense of self-worth from my perceived academic achievements. This in itself is something that I am proud of, as it’s something I’ve struggled with for my entire life. I feel most proud reflecting on how I’ve personally developed throughout the PhD process. I’ve overcome a lot of self-hatred surrounding me being autistic and queer, and have found the courage to begin advocating for myself and my accessibility needs. I’m finally in a good place where I, Pride in Science 7 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science for the most part, can be open, honest and proud of who I am. It’s a wonderful feeling. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: There are several barriers that still exist and impede LGBTQIA+ people entering and thriving in STEMM. These include a lack of data on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in STEMM, especially the intersectional experiences of those who belong to multiple marginalized groups, which makes it difficult to study the scope of the problem and implement evidence-based strategies to rectify it. Though progress has been made with a number of initiatives, there is still a lack of visibility and representation of LGBTQIA+ people in STEMM, especially in senior roles. This makes it hard to find relatable mentors/role models and foster a sense of community. Not only does this require efforts to promote and highlight LGBTQIA+ people in STEMM, but also institutional change to ensure that an inclusive and supportive environment is created. In the shorter term though, allies can support their LGBTQIA+ colleagues by helping to promote a respectful environment, for example challenging discriminatory behaviour, advocating for inclusive policies and committing time to becoming better educated about the LGBTQIA+ community and the challenges they face. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I fortunately haven’t experienced any overt homophobia in the workplace. However, I found the lack of visible role models and positive representation as I was growing up difficult, which fed into the internalized homophobia I was dealing with and resulted in feelings of isolation and not quite belonging. Even now, when I meet new people, it’s a lingering thought in the back of my mind whether it’s safe to specify “girlfriend” when talking about my partner – especially with the growing hostility towards the LGBTQIA+ community in the UK and worldwide. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: Be proactive and find your community, be it in-person at your own institution or online. Engaging with the online LGBTQIA+ community was the catalyst for me eventually coming out and reaching a place of self-acceptance. I spent a long time quietly following hashtags and Twitter accounts – seeing, for the first time, so many people just like me in STEMM who were out and proud of who they are was crucial in slowly shifting my attitudes towards myself and my own sexuality. Charlotte G. Roughton was speaking to Lucy Lawrence, Digital Content Producer for Technology Networks. 8 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Christina Atchison, PhD Dr. Christina Atchison is a principal clinical academic fellow at Imperial College London and identifies as a cis-gender lesbian. Kate Robinson After qualifying in Medicine from Cambridge University in 2002, she worked for several years rotating through clinical specialties including general medicine, paediatric surgery, emergency medicine, anaesthetics and clinical microbiology. She then completed the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and obtained a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2011. In this interview we spoke to Atchison to learn about her career in STEMM so far and the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ scientists conducting fieldwork. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: After qualifying in Medicine, I worked for several years rotating through clinical specialties. Subsequently, I obtained my PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. My research interests include the evaluation of child and adolescent public health programs. Currently, I am working on research into the longer-term effects of COVID-19 investigating why some people with COVID-19 experience symptoms for several weeks or months (Long COVID), while others have a short illness or no symptoms. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I enjoy the constant learning, innovative thinking and adaptability to a changing world that a career in STEMM allows. My proudest achievement was my contribution to the UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a principal investigator on the REACT surveillance study which was recognized when Imperial was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for COVID-19 response. The Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) research program was a series of studies that sought to improve understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic was progressing across England. To do this the program launched two studies in May 2020; REACT-1 and REACT-2. REACT-1 was a community survey of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in England, based on repeated non-overlapping cross-sectional surveys of random samples of the population. At each round, self-administered throat and nose swabs and questionnaire data are collected from between 120,000 and 180,000 people ages 5 years and above, over a period of ~17 days, at approximately monthly intervals. The aim was to examine how widely the virus had spread and to identify any trends in prevalence. The REACT-1 data collection finished in March 2022 following 19 rounds of survey. Pride in Science 9 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science REACT-2 assessed several different antibody tests to see how accurate they were and how easily people could use them at home. Q: In 2021 you wrote an article on some of the obstacles faced by LGBTQIA+ researchers, can you tell us more about it? A: In many countries, there are fewer legal protections for LGBTQIA+ people than in the UK. The specific challenges, perceptions and experiences of LGBTQIA+ scientists at undertaking international working are poorly understood. Last year, I conducted a survey and interviews with LGBTQIA+ staff and postgraduate research students across my university. Respondents reported that potential safety issues in relation to sexuality and gender identity were rarely discussed as part of travel risk assessments. About half of respondents had ever felt uncomfortable or unsafe based on their sexual orientation or gender identity whilst undertaking overseas work-related travel. A quarter of respondents reported harassment or discrimination. Finally, almost all respondents considered overseas international working to be important for career progression, yet 40% had, at some point, chosen not to do overseas work-related travel because they felt it might be unsafe based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Recently, a group of us within my department have come together informally to create an “LGBTQIA+ Travel Working Group” to discuss how to better support LGBTQIA+ staff, students and allies traveling or working abroad, or who collaborate with international teams. We plan to provide meetups for LGBTQIA+ staff, students and allies to raise awareness, contribute towards new policies, help principal investigators support LGBTQIA+ group members, and organize “safe-space” informal chats where LGBTQIA+ staff, students and allies can come together, share experiences, and learn from each other. We also aim to create an online space with helpful resources on international working for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Over the past decade many STEMM institutions have taken significant steps to improve access, participation and equal opportunities for LGBTQIA+ scientists in the workplace. However, we need to reach out further to ensure safety and support in the field. Only by raising awareness of this issue, collecting data to quantify the extent of the problem and creating solutions that foster safety and inclusion, can STEMM institutions address the unique barriers and challenges of LGBTQIA+ scientists working in the field. Q: You have worked in many clinical specialties, have your experiences of the challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community differed throughout your career? A: I have not experienced overt homophobia at work, yet I have not felt comfortable coming “out” in many of my previous jobs in hospital and academic settings. A lot of progress has been made since I started my career over a decade ago, many STEMM organizations in the UK, including the NHS and higher education institutions, are now formally committed to inclusivity, diversity and equity. In my current job, visible allyship, in the form of my colleagues wearing rainbow lanyards, has giving me the confidence to finally be out in the workplace. I am now a visible and active representative of our LGBTQ+ community. Recently, I worked on an evaluation of an adolescent reproductive health initiative in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania, which included in-country field visits to research sites. In Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania homosexuality is illegal. So, when asked about my personal life I would selfcensor and switch pronouns to he/him/his when talking about my wife. Indeed, probably the hardest decision I have to make as an LGBTQ+ scientist whilst traveling with work abroad is whether to disclose my sexuality or gender identity. The decision to be out during fieldwork is exceptionally complex as the risks are location dependent. There are circumstances where staying in the closet may be safer than being out, particularly in Africa and the Middle East where homosexuality is illegal in many countries and sometimes punishable by death. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: It is important to acknowledge and reflect on the fact that, as an LGBTQ+ scientist, your individual professional choices and career decision-making could be profoundly affected by your sexuality, particularly if your fieldwork takes you overseas. My advice would be to increase your awareness of safety issues associated with fieldwork for LGBTQ+ scientists. Prepare yourself for work in the field by identifying potential safety issues in relation to sexuality and gender identity and discussing these with your employer. If you know what to expect in terms of potential safety issues and cultural beliefs related to LGBTQ+ people, you can make an informed decision whether you still feel comfortable traveling, or whether you will need additional support or mentoring to handle the additional stress in the field. Dr. Christina Atchison was speaking to Kate Robinson, Assistant Editor for Technology Networks. 10 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Clara Barker, PhD Dr. Clara Barker is a thin-film material scientist and lab manager at the Centre for Applied Superconductivity in the materials department at Oxford University. She is also a Daphne Jackson Research Fellow and Dean for Equality and Diversity at Linacre College. She identifies as a transgender woman. Mariana Gil, PhD Clara vocally campaigns for LGBTQIA+ rights. She runs a group for LGBTQIA+ young people and was the chair of the Oxford University LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group. She won different awards, was a speaker at TEDxLondon Women in 2018 and her views on LGBTQIA+ scientists are featured in several books. In this interview, Clara told us about her research and experience as a transgender woman in science. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: I am a thin-film synthesis specialist, using physical vapor deposition techniques to grow those thin-films, specifically magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser deposition. I am most interested in how changes to deposition conditions change the film growth and the material properties. Currently, I work in a lab specializing in making superconducting materials. My current projects involve making thin-film superconductors for fusion and quantum applications. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I enjoy trying things. Seeing what works. We are looking for breakthroughs to allow us to use our thin-film superconductors in different applications. I was part of a patent that used thin-films to help spinal implants integrate in the human body – which is amazing to me. Science that can make a difference to the lives of other people. Being able to help bring fusion to life, make it a real source of clean energy for the planet would be an amazing breakthrough and being a part of that is very exciting. I also love the interactions with our student researchers – helping them understand processes is amazing – especially if they go on to understand more about a material than I do! As for my proudest moments, gaining my first fellowship was an amazing achievement for me – my first independent research award of, hopefully, many more! I also am hugely proud of gaining my PhD. My mental health was poor when I completed it (for reasons not only around my studies), so it was an achievement in itself. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: As with many other characteristics, a lack of role models was a huge barrier for me. I knew I was trans for a long time but did not want to come out as I didn’t see any other trans people in STEMM at the time. In 15 years, I Pride in Science 11 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science met only two openly gay people in STEMM – neither in my field – and they were the only LGBTQIA+ people in STEMM that I knew. Less than ten years ago, researchers from various fields were told that coming out would detrimentally affect their careers. So, with this in mind, it is no wonder people are not joining or are dropping out of STEMM careers. In truth, being able to be myself changed little – but I was no longer hiding or pretending. It removed the stress of keeping the secret, of being found out, and allowed me to concentrate on my work. We need to cultivate that culture and show that LGBTQIA+ people are welcome and accepted in STEMM and let them get on with their work. I had feedback from university and school students saying that they didn’t think trans scientists would be accepted, and that they now feel they can continue or join a STEMM field. We are always going to get the most out of our researchers if they do not have external stresses to deal with. Increasing living costs and such things will not go away easily. But accepting LGBTQIA+ people for who they are, not publicly and openly discussing where we should go to the bathroom or treating our healthcare like a discussion for people outside the medical experts, are simple steps. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: Yes. I talked about role models. I also mentioned the fact that other academics feel it acceptable to discuss some basic human dignities. As much as I want to put them aside, they do take up time that I could dedicate to my research. I have had academics make a point of attacking my acceptance of trans people under the guise of academic free speech – I’d much rather just get on with my research. But I will speak out for those who cannot. On a more open level, there have been ties cut with me since coming out as trans. I have had people deadname and misgender me in meetings. Usually by mistake, although it has been done intentionally also. My old papers are all under my deadname. Again, I’d love to be able to ignore my past, to be able to move on, but it seems that I cannot always do so. And whether we like it or not, when I was in the closet, it was a very traumatic time for me and my mental health. I do not need those wounds bringing up. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: Things are not perfect, but they are improving. We have amazing role models now. Make use of our access to the internet to find those role models, to get advice when you are facing issues, and to find the people who will raise you up so you can be the best scientist you can be. Dr. Clara Barker was speaking to Dr. Mariana Gil, Senior Science Writer for Technology Networks. 12 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Claudia Wascher, PhD Dr. Claudia Wascher is associate professor at Anglia Ruskin University interested in the evolution of social behavior. She identifies as a lesbian, is married to a fellow academic and advocates removing barriers for dual career academic couples. Mariana Gil, PhD After completing her PhD in 2009 at the University of Vienna, she spent several years as post-doc in international labs in Australia, Norway, Germany, France and Spain before starting a lectureship at Anglia Ruskin University in 2015. Claudia is passionate about improving equity, diversity and inclusion in science and leads the Faculty of Science and Engineering Athena SWAN self-assessment team at Anglia Ruskin University. She also coordinates several gender equality initiatives, for example, promotion support and continued professional training. In this interview, we spoke to Wascher to find out about her research and experiences as an LGBTQIA+ academic. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: I am a behavioral biologist, interested in the evolution of social behavior. I specialize in group living birds and investigate physiological and cognitive mechanisms underlying social behavior. For my PhD, I recorded heart rate as a proxy of the physiological stress response in graylag geese. I studied how different social interactions affect heart rate. I found that heart rate in geese increased even if geese were only observing aggressive encounters, without being actively involved themselves. Further, heart rate increases more when geese were watching interactions with their partner or family members involved, compared to unrelated individuals. I am further interested in cognitive mechanisms mediating social interactions in corvids, mostly carrion crows. Carrion crows are highly social and frequently cooperate with other group members. In my research, I have shown that crows can differentiate between reliable and unreliable cooperation partners. My group currently investigates vocal communication in corvids. We are interested in the complexity of calls in different corvid species and how vocal complexity is driven by ecological and social factors. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: My proudest achievements definitely are the successes of my students and people I manage. It makes me extremely proud when my students successfully complete their studies, land great jobs, successfully publish or present their work. I am also very passionate about mentoring or managing colleagues and am very proud when they are successful (for example get promoted). I enjoy every aspect of working in STEMM. First, I really enjoy the great diversity of my job. No day is like any other and every day is filled with a wide variety of activities. In my everyday job I teach, conduct research, manage colleagues and research in my School. I am also leading gender equality work in my faculty, actively working to Pride in Science 13 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science remove barriers for underrepresented groups in science. I really enjoy the great flexibility in my job. My wife is also an academic, currently holding a position in Germany. Thanks to the great flexibility in academia, I am often able to work from Germany. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: I think that a lack of sense of belonging and navigating through a heteronormative environment are important issues. Generally, I found people in my field very accepting and supportive. However, at every workplace I felt the need to out myself very quickly to avoid people making wrong assumptions about my sexuality. The lack of role models and visibility of LGBTQIA+ people can create a lack of sense of belonging and as a result LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to drop out of academia. I actively try to be a role model and visible for others in my field. In my field, biology, there are also real barriers when it comes to field work in countries which are less tolerant towards LGBTQIA+ people or where LGBTQIA+ identities are illegal. This absolutely needs to be considered when assessing the risk of field work. It is really important to educate the majority about potential risks for LGBTQIA+ people – which they are often not aware of. For example, the risk of being involuntarily outed. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I think I faced more obstacles by not conforming to stereotypical gender roles. I have been perceived as “too direct and outspoken”, overseen for jobs and promotions. Identifying as LGBTQIA+ I have also become very careful navigating the academic environment. I double check every communication and spend a lot of time thinking before I speak out, to make sure that my communications are perceived in the right way. On the one hand, this is an obstacle as I spend a lot of time reflecting on my conduct, but I also find– especially in the more senior positions I am in now – it also presents a strength being able to communicate very well with a diverse group of people. I also find that being LGBTQIA+ gives me a clear advantage managing people from diverse backgrounds because I understand the perspective of people in a minority position. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: I would definitely say “the field needs you, so be proud and confident pursuing a career in science”. As professionals, we are always shaped by our unique experiences and backgrounds. My field, for example, traditionally is very prone to categorize traits (e.g., behaviors) because this makes them easily quantifiable. However, recent advances in my field (e.g., personality research) suggest that biological traits often evolve across a spectrum and are only poorly represented in categories. As LGBTQIA+ person, I very much identify and agree with the idea that most biological traits occur on a spectrum rather than distinct categories. As such I do believe that my LGBTQIA+ identity makes me the best researcher I can be. Also, STEMM is a great field for LGBTQIA+ researchers. It is a very accepting, open-minded field, with a lot of great people from very diverse backgrounds who are keen to learn from and support each other. You will find great role models and supporters. Dr. Claudia Wascher was speaking to Dr. Mariana Gil, Senior Science Writer for Technology Networks. 14 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Daniel Gillis, PhD Dr. Daniel Gillis identifies as a gay man and is an award-winning associate professor, statistician and interdisciplinary researcher in the School of Computer Science at the University of Guelph. Sophie Prosolek, PhD Gillis is the co-founder of Farm To Fork, a project which used computer science to reduce hunger in Guelph. He is co-creator of ICON, a transdisciplinary undergraduate classroom that brings students from across campus together to work on social challenges, and he is co-founder of GuelphHacks and the Improve Life Challenge, a series of multidisciplinary annual hackathons held at the University of Guelph. He spends most of his time working on interdisciplinary teams which have focused on public health and ecological risk assessment, community-led software design, transdisciplinary pedagogy and bridging the digital divide. In this interview, we spoke to Gillis about his research, teaching and experience as an openly gay man working in STEMM. Q: You work across multiple disciplines including statistics, pedagogy and computer science. Can you tell us about your research? A: It’s been a weird and winding path to get to where I am today, but now I’ve got four research programs and they’re all housed under the umbrella of “community-engaged research and teaching”. After I finished my PhD in statistics, I worked in ecological and public health risk assessment. I worked to develop new statistical methods, use statistical methods and new ways, or use new data to understand challenges related to public health, public health intervention, disease modeling and ecology. Some of my students have worked on things like DNA barcoding, mRNA and transfer RNA and how those data can be used to understand the viability of embryos or the successful breeding of livestock. When I transitioned into the School of Computer Science, I also had to train in computer science. I stumbled into the world of community-engaged software design and now work with community partners to develop software tools that support their missions. Most of our work is with not-for-profits and charitable organizations. We also work with indigenous populations. In fact, I’m heading to the Arctic again in just less than two weeks for a new potential collaboration with the Inuit in Cambridge Bay. I also have a research program that looks at transdisciplinary pedagogy and higher education. We look at improving the way we deliver course content and provide feedback to students. More importantly, we set students up in situations where they can work with communities from other disciplines to foster their foundational or tran sferable skills. Q: What do you love about STEMM? A: My love of STEMM started when I was very young; I was always fascinated by numbers, though I don’t know why. As a kid, I used to struggle to get to sleep because I was constantly doing math in my head and thinking about Pride in Science 15 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science number patterns. I always loved the art of mathematics and the creativity that’s required. I also love the purity of it. As I went through my training, I was exposed to working with social scientists through the Public Health Agency of Canada. I got to see how a different kind of brain looks at the world; that reinvigorated my love of STEMM because I realized it can be way more than just the technical stuff. In terms of the work that I do, I love it when I can sit down and just do the maths – I find some sort of beauty in it, and I love the discovery. While there’s a lot of failures and a lot of “oh that didn’t work” there’s also “let’s try something new” and I love that element of it. Q: What would you say are your proudest academic achievements to date? A: So one of the things that I love seeing in the classroom, or in lab work, is seeing the “light bulb moment” when students understand a concept. You’re able to help them through the journey of discovery, and for me that’s one of the proudest moments. While I’m super proud of the awards that I’ve received, I think one of the greatest moments that I had was during teaching. It was the first time I had held a particular software design course; I ended up 50 minutes late to 1 hour and 20 minute long class – so there was only half an hour left. I was fully expecting to walk into an empty classroom, but every single student was there. There were four students at the front of the class, leading the discussion. They were all talking about the community project we were working on, and they were working on the things that they needed to. It was one of my proudest moments. It was excellent. Q: What do you feel are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM? A: For me, the biggest barrier is the way the system is structured to begin with – it’s not been designed by or for people who don’t fit the mold. If you’re different, you don’t see yourself reflected in the people who are leading the universities or teaching in classrooms. From that point of view, I can definitely see how any equity-deserving community could feel that they don’t necessarily belong. Based on some of the experiences I’ve had, I find that there’s just barrier after barrier thrown at you. There are comments that are made and microaggressions; I’ve had situations where people have asked me about my wife and kids, and these are people I’ve worked with for years! It’s not like I’m not “out” at work – they just fail to recognize that sometimes. While I don’t think it’s malicious, I think it’s a lack of thinking. I also think that one of the things that push people away is that a lot of our efforts are hidden or unrewarded. We don’t want the next generation to have to deal with some of the stupid things that we’ve dealt with – and so we put ourselves in a situation to help them along. It’s not recorded on our CVs and it’s not rewarded by anybody. But it is extra work, and it can be triggering and exhausting. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ scientists beginning their career, what would it be? A: Do your best to not just survive, but to thrive and be proud of who you are. You don’t have to be “out” or loud about your sexuality or gender, because unfortunately, so many folks in the community are in unsafe situations. But know that you’re valuable, important and that your experiences and contributions are vital to the work that we do. If possible, find a community that supports you. If you don’t have a local community, reach out to communities online. Just know that you’re important and valued, despite what other people might say. Dr. Daniel Gillis was speaking to Dr. Sophie Prosolek, Science Writer for Technology Networks. 16 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Drake McCrimmon Drake McCrimmon identifies as a gay man and is a third year hydrology PhD student at the University of Reno, Nevada, working in the ice core lab at the Desert Research Institute. Sophie Prosolek, PhD Drake researches climate history by measuring chemistry trapped in glacial ice. Currently, he works on understanding past Northern Hemisphere wildfire history by looking at ammonium and black carbon within ice cores from across the Greenland ice sheet. Additionally, he has completed work on alpine glaciers in Alaska and worked for several years as a chemist in a drinking water purification plant in New Orleans. In his spare time, Drake enjoys spending time in the mountains, hiking, skiing, photographing or playing the banjo. In this interview, we spoke to McCrimmon about his research and about his experience as an openly gay man in STEMM. Q: You’re currently studying for a PhD in hydrology. Can you tell us about your research? A: I use chemistry in glacial ice to reconstruct aspects of past climate. Year after year snow falls on ice sheets, creating a layer cake of history. We can drill into an ice sheet such as Greenland or Antarctica in order to obtain a sample of that layer cake. In the ice core lab at the Desert Research Institute, we melt the ice using a continuous flow analysis system, which results in an extremely highresolution chemical history of these ice cores. In this way we can look at annual and sub-annual records of climate history. My work specifically uses chemical compounds produced by wildfire, ammonium and black carbon, to understand the transport of wildfire to different locations across the Greenland ice sheet. A fire plume will not necessarily make it to all locations across Greenland and I’m trying to understand a bit more about the spatial variability of fire signal deposition on the ice. I am also interested in water. I’ve worked as a water professional in the past as a chemist at a drinking water purification plant and I am now in a hydrology PhD program at UNR. I am fascinated by water issues and ensuring equitable uses of water, both for humans and the ecosystem. Nevada is the driest state in the country and water managers here must be creative when solving water issues. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? A: First and foremost, I enjoy researching the natural world around us. I’m fascinated by the interaction of earth systems and climate. I also love the opportunities within academia to travel, meet scientists from around the world, and work together to plan and complete large projects. Last fall I was able to spend 4 weeks working with an ice core group at the University of Copenhagen, analyzing an ice core collected over many years by an international collaborative team on the Greenland ice sheet. Being part of collaborative science in this way is truly exciting for Pride in Science 17 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science me. I enjoy unpacking parts of earth systems and sharing science at conferences and workshops. Q: What would you say are your proudest academic achievements to date? A: Some of my proudest achievements include completing fieldwork on Alaskan alpine glaciers, in the Alaskan tundra, and on the Greenland ice sheet. I’ve received training on glacier safety and mountaineering on Mt Baker in Washington and I’ve been trusted to be a safe and valuable member in remote field settings. Probably my proudest achievement is just continuing with science even when it gets difficult. I’ve had a dream to work with ice cores ever since I learned about them when I was young. I’m so happy and proud that I get to work in this world now. Q: What do you feel are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM? What could be done to support them? A: I think that the barriers for LGBTQIA+ people vary between STEMM disciplines. In my experience, the ice core community has been very open and accepting—I haven’t faced many issues, if any at all, within this field. There are many queer graduate students currently engaging with ice core science and it makes me hopeful for the future. That said, I think one barrier for LGBTQIA+ people in ice core science is potential fieldwork experiences and the fact that this community is so small. A small community is a barrier to entry for any type of person trying to get into ice core research and certain fieldwork situations can make it uncomfortable to entirely be yourself as a LGBTQIA+ person. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to your identity as a gay man? A: I was worried for a long time that I might have issues within my career as a gay man, and for many years I hid that side of myself at work just to be on the safe side. But honestly, since deciding to be my whole self and not hide, I have been accepted and embraced within the academic science community. I think that the only place that I’ve run into potentially weird situations as an LGBTQ person is during remote fieldwork, but that mostly comes down to the teammates you have around you. I’ve had some incredible fieldwork experiences with women-led teams with other queer students where I haven’t worried for a moment about my abilities or qualifications because of being gay. I’ve also been on fieldwork teams that are more straight maledominated and I do see that I get treated a bit differently. I find I’m sometimes left out of certain conversations or activities, merely because it’s assumed because of who I am that I wouldn’t be interested or good at these things. An example of this is being left out of conversations revolving around logistics, the workings of field equipment such as drills or trucks, and being perceived as less experienced or competent in remote field situations. This isn’t necessarily a conscious exclusion, but I find I have to prove myself more in these field situations. Another aspect of remote field work is just how alone and cut off you are from the rest of the world. In Greenland last summer, we camped on the ice sheet for almost 5 weeks, where I was the only gay man in camp and had no access to the internet or communication with friends back home. It can be isolating to be the only LGBTQIA+ person in a remote field camp with no way to contact the outside world. But the isolation of remote field work can also be what makes it exciting. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ scientists beginning their career, what would it be? A: If I could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ students and researchers, it would be to not hide yourself. Academia is getting more and more accepting, especially with other graduate student peers. We are allowed to take up space as LGBTQIA+ people and our voices and experiences deserve to be heard. Being yourself is the best way to feel confident in your field/lab group/graduate program and further normalize our existence in STEMM fields. Drake McCrimmon was speaking to Dr. Sophie Prosolek, Science Writer for Technology Networks. 18 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Emma Waters, PhD Dr. Emma Waters is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Quadram Institute in Norwich, and identifies as bi/pansexual. Kate Harrison, PhD Emma originally trained as a Chemist at the University of East Anglia (UEA), before starting a PhD in biochemistry, investigating how to attach tiny chemical solar panels to bacteria so they could harness solar energy to produce useful chemicals. She did this by making photosensitizerproteoliposome systems to study light-driven transmembrane electron transfers via a porin:cytochrome protein complex. Since her PhD, Emma changed her research field to medical microbiology, where she uses different sequencing techniques to investigate bacterial niche adaptation. She joined the Norwich Medical School at UEA in 2017 to help generate transposon libraries of non-aureus staphylococci for transposon-directed insertion sequencing (TraDIS). These libraries, used with biofilm models, have helped to identify essential genes required for biofilm formation that lead to prosthetic joint infections. The biofilm model aids the investigation of both the application of bacteriophage technology to treat staphylococcal prosthetic joint infections and the essential genes required for initial biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa. Since 2018 Emma has been at the Quadram Institute where she has been investigating the molecular mechanisms used by Salmonella Typhi to survive asymptomatically in humans – known as the carrier state. In this interview, we spoke to Emma to learn more about her research, outreach work and her experiences in STEMM. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: My research interests focus on narrowing the gaps between scientific disciplines (chemistry, biology, physics, medicine, etc.) to develop innovative methods that tackle the big modern scientific challenges. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I have always loved working on puzzles and solving them. I feel like I do that every day in science, and the puzzle is always different. Because I work in the interface between scientific disciplines, I find unusual solutions to problems that no one has ever considered. I also enjoy that I can do teaching and outreach as part of my role. One of my recent achievements was developing an exhibition called “What is a Scientist?” (#WhatIsAScientist). With this exhibition, I wanted to show that a scientist is rarely the traditional stereotypical version of an old, eccentric, white man who is messing around with chemicals. I did this by showcasing the wonderful diversity of scientists we have at the Norwich Research Park, using a double-sided photo wall of 46 scientists, with one side showing a non-science photo and the other side showing a science photo. This exhibition has since gone to science festivals, county festivals and local Pride in Science 19 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science schools to inspire children and smash stereotypes to show that anyone can be a scientist no matter their background, race, age, sex, disability, etc. This may even give children the chance to say I am like this person in x way so I could be a scientist too, i.e., give them a visible role model in science. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: Personally, I think one of the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM is finding visible role models that they can look up to. My entire childhood was overshadowed by a law in the UK called Section 28. This law censored educational resources which “promoted alternative gay family” and banned “teaching in any school of the acceptability of homosexuality”. This meant there were no LGBTQIA+ role models for me to look up to when I was growing up and led to me not embracing my sexuality until I was in my mid-twenties. Since the law was abolished in 2003 our rights have greatly improved but this and other big events in our history has greatly impacted not just the previous and my generation but the next generation of LGBTQIA+ individuals and scientists. The next generation of LGBTQIA+ scientists who are coming up through the system may have had more freedom to be themselves but are desperately searching for visible role models in science from mine and older generations. But understandably these generations find it hard or do not want to make themselves visible. So, I think we need to keep actively helping to give a voice to these quiet unsung queer heroes that are already out there so the next generation can find them. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I have been fortunate not to face any massive obstacles in my career due to my identifying as LGBTQIA+, except for stereotypical assumptions made by colleagues based on my being in a lesbian relationship. However; I am not afraid of being myself and take pride in openly discussing my LGBTQIA+ life, which is something I fully recommend for everyone. After open discussions I generally find those assumptions people make are forgotten. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: Actively seek other LGBTQIA+ individuals who are in STEMM. They are out there I promise! And there are many different useful layers to this. Seek individuals who are: 1) at your career level to provide you with a friendly support network of peers; 2) above your career level to provide you with silent role models or even potentially more active mentors; and 3) from history – there are so many hidden gems of queer individuals who played such important parts in science. Many science societies, universities and research institutions have active LGBTQIA+ communities and work groups which will welcome all newcomers. For example, the charity Pride in STEM runs many awesome events locally and nationally to network with other queer scientists. And there is a diverse and friendly LGBTQIA+ in STEMM communities still thriving on Twitter waiting to be found. Dr. Emma Waters was speaking to Dr. Kate Harrison, Science Writer for Technology Networks. 20 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Gabi Fleury Gabi Fleury identifies as a nonbinary person who is also pansexual, and is a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sophie Prosolek, PhD Gabi (they/them) studies ways for humans and wild carnivores to co-exist. They led a research team in Namibia which investigated ways to reduce cheetah-livestock conflict, designed a picture-only video game to teach nonliterate Mozambican villagers’ different ways to prevent livestock losses and will soon be testing deterrents to safely keep carnivores off commercial farms in Botswana. In this interview, we spoke to Fleury about their research background and experiences as a Black, indigenous and LGBTQIA+ scientist. Q: Can you tell us about your scientific research interests? A: I’m a human-carnivore conflict mitigation specialist, with most of my career spent in eastern and southern Africa. Carnivores, like leopards and cheetahs, sometimes eat livestock and farmers get understandably upset about that. This causes negative human-carnivore interactions that can lead to the death of individual carnivores. This conflict can both endanger critical carnivore populations and majorly impact farmer mental (or physical) health and economic prospects. Human-carnivore conflict, after habitat loss, is one of the biggest factors driving large carnivores towards extinction all over the world, so it’s an important and challenging line of work. Essentially, I’m a conservation biologist/interspecies diplomat working to reduce livestock loss to wild carnivores and collaborate with farmers to reduce retributive killings of carnivores. Currently, I’ll be testing non-lethal deterrents for my PhD project in the Ghanzi District of western Botswana to determine which deterrents are the most effective in reducing carnivore incursion onto commercial farms. I’m also doing a human dimensions aspect of the project to determine underlying drivers of conflict, such as farmer perceptions of different carnivore species. To make this work possible, I’ll collaborate with two on-the-ground Botswanan non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Cheetah Conservation Botswana, and Botswana Predator Conservation. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: What I enjoy the most about working in STEMM is the daily challenge of it. Human-carnivore conflict is a complex “wicked” problem and unraveling it through different mitigation methods is mentally stimulating, keeps me on my toes creatively. It has the possibility to allow for real impact, not just for carnivores, but for people too! I’ve been lucky to have several proud achievements. One is gaining a Rotary Ambassadorial grant to study at the University of Cape Town, where I received my Masters degree, gaining my first Fulbright Grant in 2020 to travel to Botswana, creating an environmental video game Pride in Science 21 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science company with my programmer co-founder, including to our knowledge, creating and beta testing the world’s first human-carnivore conflict mitigation video game, and hitting the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Growing up, my heroes were Jane Goodall, Steve Irwin and the Kratt brothers; I didn’t know of any conservationists who looked like me. I’m proud of being a Black, indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ scientist, and I hope that my career will help increase the representation of diverse scientists so that others will grow up knowing that they can do it too! Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: I think one of the biggest challenges for me, as a nonbinary person who is also pansexual, is working abroad. Often, it is not safe to fully be oneself if there are legal or cultural repercussions in the country you’re working in. It’s often hard enough to express oneself in the United States where there’s some legal protection in many places, but being LGBTQIA+ has limited, for me, where I can work safely. When I do work abroad, it also impacts how open I can be about my identity for cultural or safety reasons. Being in a remote field environment can amp up all the usual concerns that LGBTQIA+ people may have about safety, let alone societal acceptance. I think the best ways to support LGBTQIA+ people are practical. Universities should fund training within departments to take some of the burden of educating others off individuals. For example, training in how to use the correct pronouns, or what microaggressions are. Educating others about our identities shouldn’t be a default expectation – we may be LGBTQIA+, but we’re also there to do a job, and the job is science. Also, specifically for my field, I think training on safety is crucial. As a female-presenting person, let alone a LGBTQIA+ person, it’s always alarmed me that I’ve never received a safety briefing or information on what to do if I encounter a dangerous situation in a remote field environment, or had any information about what countries may not be safe to work in for me. Those were all things I had to figure out through trial and error on my own, and I don’t think it’d be amiss to have contingency plans built in to aid LGBTQIA+ researchers in the field if they do end up in a dangerous situation based on discrimination. Even self-defense courses could represent helpful or potential lifesaving knowledge for an LGBTQIA+ person in the field. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I didn’t expect the mental health impacts of hiding a major part of yourself for years at a stretch (as I experienced pre-PhD). It can really wear on a person to have to pretend that your girlfriend back home is just your friend, or that the pronouns everyone is using for you are the correct ones when you’re being constantly misgendered. In the United States, we’re often encouraged in many places to “be ourselves” but being ourselves can, there, and elsewhere, come with serious repercussions, including some potentially life-threatening ones. You must decide, as a person working abroad, how much you’re willing to risk and whom you’re willing to trust, depending on how accepting the environment may or may not be. I wouldn’t say I faced any obstacles in my career directly due to being LGBTQIA+, but I’m also non-white and female presenting, so it’s possible any obstacles I’ve faced could have happened regardless of being under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. I also made choices that were hard on me emotionally, but that kept me physically safe — if I had been completely open about my queer identity in all my remote field environments, I likely would have had an extremely different career or would have had to seriously rethink my goals. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ scientists beginning their career, what would it be? A: To not be scared off science, even if things may seem daunting, especially if you’re also a person of color. For example, I try not to focus on obstacles when I think of my intersectional identities. As a good author friend of mine once said — “don’t shy away from intersections, because Gods reside at the crossroads”. Being a multiracial person, being a nonbinary person, being someone who has always existed within blurred categories and boundaries and shied away from labels, it’s given me the ability to do my work well. It’s allowed me to communicate effectively with people from all walks of life and granted me a lot of empathy to understand differences in backgrounds, priorities, and communication styles. I don’t think I’d be nearly as effective a scientist in my field (which is also extremely interdisciplinary!) without it. Being able to understand things from a variety of perspectives is a gift, and we have that as LGBTQIA+ people. You have so much to offer science and the world, so don’t forget that! Gabi Fleury was speaking to Dr. Sophie Prosolek, Science Writer for Technology Networks. 22 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Güneş Taylor, DPhil Dr. Güneş Taylor is a postdoctoral fellow at The Francis Crick Institute and a freelance science communicator. Katie Brighton As a molecular biologist Güneş uses many cutting-edge technologies to understand how reproductive systems are built. Güneş hopes to develop solutions for female health and fertility by unravelling details of ovarian function. She is also a highly experienced public speaker, regularly appearing at festivals and events discussing the future of human reproduction and other broad philosophical aspects of science. Her open style of communication and personal life experiences as a refugee and member of the LBGTQIA+ community who has moved many times across different European countries make her relatable to diverse audiences. Reflecting this passion for making biology accessible to everyone, Güneş was awarded the Inaugural Francis Crick Award for Science Communication in 2018. In this interview, we spoke to Güneş to find out about her research and her experiences as an LGBTQIA+ academic. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: My research interests revolve around the human reproductive system and the molecular mechanisms that make it the way it is! Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I deeply enjoy the back-and-forth of scientific debate and trying to work out what different pieces of data might mean with other scientists. I think science is a team effort and most enjoyable when there are like-minded others to push you to being your best self. My proudest moments were getting my DPhil from Oxford, securing my postdoctoral position at the Crick and coming out at OUThinkers 2019 in front of my friends, chosen family and colleagues. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: I can’t speak for the community, but the main support I would have appreciated is the normalization of bisexuality in social contexts. Of course relationship preferences and status are not relevant to work, but in an increasingly relaxed workplace these things do come up. Not many people think of bisexuality as an actual category nor understand that it is not necessarily “just a phase”. Pride in Science 23 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: At times, I have certainly felt very out-of-place and judged by some colleagues for aspects of my personality or life that relate to being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. I was extremely uncomfortable about coming out at the OUThinkers event at work, and worried about how it would impact my career. Thankfully, so far it has not had any direct impact on my career, and if anything, I have been told the representation was welcomed. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: I wish I had worried less about what others thought of me as a scientist and as a person. So, my advice is: work towards being the best version of yourself – whatever that may be. Invest in your skills and invest in building the life you want for yourself. The people who don’t understand or agree will always be there, gawking away, making you feel bad about what you’re trying to achieve – but they won’t be the ones there to help when you need it. So don’t let them derail you! Dr. Güneş Taylor was speaking to Katie Brighton, Scientific Copywriter for Technology Networks 24 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Izzy Jayasinghe, PhD Dr. Izzy Jayasinghe is a senior lecturer and UK Research and Innovation future leader fellow at the University of Sheffield and identifies as a trans woman. Kate Robinson Jayasinghe completed her PhD in the department of physiology of the University of Auckland in 2010. She founded her first independent research group in the faculty of biological sciences in the University of Leeds in 2015, which led to a number of innovations in super-resolution microscopy methods including an enhanced version of Expansion Microscopy and a fast localization microscopy method called sandSTORM. In 2019, she was awarded a 7-year UKRI Future Leader Fellowship, which led her to form the Applied Biophotonics Group in the department of molecular biology and biotechnology in the University of Sheffield. She is an active member of The Inclusion Group for Equity in Research in STEMM and a co-lead of LGBTQ+ STEM, working towards upholding equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility in higher education and STEMM. In this interview, we spoke to Jayasinghe to find out about her research and experiences as a transgender woman of color in STEMM. Q: Your current research focuses on developing more accessible and versatile tools and methods for super-resolution microscopy. Can you tell us more about this work? A: I have been lucky enough to enter my research track at a time when super-resolution microscopy methods were being invented for the first time. One of the real appeals of super-resolution was that “anybody” who had a decent research grade microscope set up could make it work perhaps with the addition of a sensitive camera, a good objective lens and a custom-written software. The groups that I worked with as an early career researcher very much enjoyed this accessibility. We used these technologies to shed new light into the biophysical questions that we were studying. As super-resolution methods became more diverse and wide ranging in their capabilities, my team and I have observed the potential to make it more accessible. One of the real breakthroughs in this domain is the arrival of expansion microscopy (ExM) which has placed superresolution microscopy in the hands of non-specialist microscopists. In our group, we have made it a mission to help peers from the far corners of the life sciences (i.e., clinical colleagues, field biologists etc.) adopt this method. As a technology, it is rapidly evolving in areas like fluorescence probes, hydrogel chemistry and combining ExM with other, optical super-resolution modalities to compound the resolution improvement that is on offer. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I enjoy the images that microscopy produces. Although I rarely get to sit at a microscope and acquire images these days, it is nevertheless quite a rewarding process to train the next generation of optical microscopists to acquire high-quality images (which, in turn, guarantees Pride in Science 25 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science the high-quality data that we need for our research questions). My proudest achievements include seeing the team members that I helped train go on to exciting new career paths, and the studies and projects where I have managed to bring together a brilliant group of colleagues. I am also proud of the discoveries and innovations that I have been involved in, however the thrill of that work is often short-lived, thanks to the break-neck pace at which we are expected to produce scientific papers in modernday academia. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: My advice to LGBTQIA+ researchers starting out in their scientific/academic careers is to position themselves in a workplace or academy that takes Diversity and Inclusion seriously. It is up to you whether you are out, or when, or how you come out. More important, is being in an environment where you feel included and uninhibited as a person, and thrive as a professional. Indeed, the quality of the training and the quality of the research are also important criteria, however do not pick that environment based on traditional metrics or anecdotes of “excellence” – they are often red herrings. A certain level of resilience is necessary when navigating hyper competitive sectors like academic STEMM; positive LGBTQIA+ role models are especially good for nurturing that inspiration and resilience. However, resilience also means having the capacity to recognize discrimination, marginalization, and inequality, and then to take action to either prevent it or escape from it. Q: You have been a scientist in many geographical locations in your career. Have your experiences of the challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community differed by location? A: I have experienced racism to differing degrees in the different countries and cities that I have lived in – none more than in the South West of the UK. I was not always out as trans in many of my former home towns, so I have no objective geographical point of comparison. However, the LGBTQIA+ community in North Yorkshire have been a real place of comfort and support for me over the past seven years. A number of friends that I made from outside of my career or workplace there played big roles in my support network. The internal culture of universities that I worked in had little correlation with the local LGBTQIA+ community. For example, one such (former) workplace in Yorkshire has been awful to their LGBTQIA+ employees. I was lucky enough to escape it, but for those colleagues who remain, finding the little allyship they can find for each other has been the primary mechanism for coping with ongoing homophobia and transphobia. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: The main barriers are still the high prevalence of harassment, bullying, discrimination, stereotyping and targeted microaggressions. Exclusionary workplace cultures, discouraging LGBTQIA+ colleagues or students from coming out are real red flags. The lack of representation of LGBTQIA+ people in the leadership roles and the failure to recognize the intersectional impact of belonging to other marginalized groups in addition to being LGBTQIA+ are also at the core of numerous types of barriers faced by our community in STEMM. There is also a serious lack of data that allow us to study, understand, highlight and fix the negative experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in STEMM. That data is unlikely to arrive any time soon, due to the lack of impetus from academies, funding bodies and employers to collect that data in a responsible and trustworthy manner. Dr. Izzy Jayasinghe was speaking to Kate Robinson, Assistant Editor for Technology Networks. 26 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Jamie Gallagher, PhD Dr. Jamie Gallagher identifies as a gay man and is a science communicator who shares his love of science on stage, TV and radio. Sophie Prosolek, PhD Gallagher (He/Him) has performed around the world making science topics as memorable, interesting and engaging as possible. He also creates science-themed rainbow pin badges which he sells to raise money to help homeless and vulnerably housed LGBTQIA+ people. The pins are now found in labs, libraries and classrooms across the globe and the project has raised over £13,000 for the Albert Kennedy Trust. When he is not sharing science stories, he is helping others to do the same, working with universities to help them connect effectively with communities. Jamie has a background in interdisciplinary physical sciences with an undergraduate degree in chemical physics and a PhD in chemistry and electrical engineering. He was previously recognized by the Science Council as one of the UK’s “100 leading practicing scientists”. In this interview, we spoke to Gallagher about his research background and experiences working in an academiaadjacent field. Q: You hold a PhD in interdisciplinary sciences. Can you tell us about your scientific research interests? A: While I’m currently a science communicator, I have a multidisciplinary research background. When I was leaving school, I was uncertain about which subject I wanted to study, but I knew that I wanted to do some sort of science. So, I did my undergraduate degree in chemical physics – which allowed me to do chemistry, physics, and maths. My PhD was in chemistry and electrical engineering - keeping that interdisciplinary angle. I’ve always been interested in where the subjects overlap. My research was in nanoscale materials for renewable energy generation; I was synthesizing low-dimensional materials in the lab. Chemistry comes into the fundamental making of these materials and then engineering comes into the testing and the functionality. So, my interest and my research background are in low-dimensional structures that are really functionally useful in the energy sector. I worked on parts for hydrogen storage and solar cells, but most of my work was in a niche area called thermal electronics - that’s what powers the Mars exploration rover. I was looking at whether we can improve the efficiency of this technology and whether we could incorporate it into our daily lives. Could we harvest our own body heat to generate electricity? It’s a niche area of research – energy harvesting – and normally the military is interested. If you were to put a person into a remote environment, could they charge electrical devices? I was looking at the harvesting of body heat. All of the energy that is wasted in the environment, just by walking around, could be used productively. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest Pride in Science 27 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science achievements? A: In terms of joy that I found within research; I’d make the materials in the lab, take them to a big microscope facility and I would look at them under the microscope. I was the first human being in the world to see them and that was exciting; the idea that I was getting to just investigate something in a really thorough and new way was exciting. Plus, I just loved playing with all the big machines. I’m just a geek; I’m a massive geek playing with my microscopes and doing glassblowing. Working with different chemicals and planning out experiments – it’s fun! I’m really proud to have contributed in some way to my area, I’m proud to have done something new. But I guess I’m most proud of my ability to share. I realized that, when I went to university, I’d never met anyone with a PhD before. Every year I see thousands of people and I try to share science in a really accessible and memorable way because it’s possibly their first encounter with someone with a research background or with someone who has a PhD. Another thing I’m particularly proud of is my science badges. A few years ago, I started making little pin badges in the shape of test tubes that had rainbow colors on them. At the time I didn’t quite realize just how popular these would be. Now, these little rainbow pin badges have 50 different designs and they’re found all around the world. I’ve sold 1000s of them and I donate all the profit to the Albert Kennedy Trust, which helps young LGBTQ+ homeless people or people who are vulnerably housed. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: One thing I always thought as young queer person was that you look at spaces and you just think “am I welcome there?” And “who am I going to find there?” If I hadn’t gone into science, I think I would really have loved woodworking. As a young gay person, I thought, “oh, what does that look like? What does that career path look like?” To work on building sites with all these guys – it’s not going to be comfortable for me. The same kind of holds true for science. When you’re choosing your subject area. You think, “do I fit in? Do I belong?” There are certain perceptions we have of science as a field and I don’t think it is necessarily as an inclusive and queer-friendly space. And that presents the barrier. It’s the scientific sentiment that you must detach your person from the subject – which is nonsense to me. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I am always very aware of how many times I need to come out every single day, every single week. It’s not a subtle thing. It’s an overt thing. It’s a choice for me, and I’m constantly having to choose, do I reveal myself? Do I not? And I think the older you get, the easier that becomes, and the less you think about it. It’s that additional stress that you feel constantly questioning “what do I say? When do I say it?” And “how are people going to respond?”. That’s something a straight person is not going to have. Yet, you’re constantly thinking about the safety of the space that you’re in and the reaction that someone is going to have – that’s an added stress that no one needs when they’re doing a PhD. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ scientists beginning their career, what would it be? A: Find others and find stories of others who have done it before, because there are plenty of people out there. Start connecting and asking about their experiences; find support in their wisdom. Have conversations and enjoy each other’s company. Share each other’s pain and draw strength from the sense of community. Dr. Jamie Gallagher was speaking to Dr. Sophie Prosolek, Science Writer for Technology Networks. 28 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science Josh Makepeace, DPhil Dr. Josh Makepeace is a lecturer in materials chemistry and UK Research and Innovation future leaders fellow at the University of Birmingham and identifies as a gay man. Kate Robinson After working in the school of biotechnology at Flinders University on a project detecting chemical pollutants in waterways, he moved to the UK to take up a DPhil (PhD) in inorganic chemistry at the University of Oxford. His doctoral work explored the mechanisms of reversible solid state hydrogen storage and ammonia decomposition catalysis in light metal amides. One of his current focuses is the development of materials for energy storage applications, from storing hydrogen and catalyzing the synthesis/decomposition of ammonia for use as sustainable fuels, to electrolytes and electrodes for batteries and fuel cells. In this interview, we spoke to Makepeace to learn more about his research into sustainable energy storage and experiences working in STEMM. Q: Your current research focuses on sustainable energy storage. Can you tell us more about this work? A: We’re exploring different methods for storing energy produced from renewable power. Energy storage is critically important for a whole range of applications, from balancing discrepancies between renewable power generation and demand on the electricity grid to ensuring we can achieve zero-emissions transport. We’re developing materials that could be used in next-generation batteries and also catalysts for synthesizing sustainable fuels like hydrogen and ammonia. Sustainable fuels are a really interesting piece in the puzzle, as they may offer a way for connecting areas with attractive wind and solar potential with areas that have high-cost renewable electricity. This could unlock a global trade in renewable energy. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM and how did your interest in science originate? A: I love working in chemistry because it combines the thrill of discovering something new or making a new material with the ability to contribute to new technologies that might help address the climate crisis. I’ve always loved finding out about how things work and thinking creatively to solve puzzles, and the exciting experiments really drew me to chemistry specifically. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I’ve been very fortunate to have been shown a lot of support by colleagues in my workplace, so the main thing I would view as an obstacle was the lack of obvious role models when I was starting out in my career. It took a long time before I knew anyone in academia who was out, and so it was hard to see myself as belonging, or that I would ever fully be “myself” at work. Things have improved in recent years with initiatives like LGBTQIA+ STEMM day, but I think we still have a long way to go to foster 29 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science that sense of belonging in the workplace more broadly. I’m in a relatively privileged position but other sections of the LGBTQIA+ community still face very active discrimination. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: I would say that there is a community of LGBTQIA+ researchers out there, you might just have to look for them! Social media can be a great way to connect with researchers around the world and share experiences. It’s important to see that there are people out there like you doing STEMM research and making their mark! Dr. Josh Makepeace was speaking to Kate Robinson, Assistant Editor for Technology Networks. 30 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Jui-Lin Chen, PhD Dr. Jui-Lin Chen is a postdoctoral research associate at Weill Cornell Medicine and identifies as a cisgender gay man. Lucy Lawrence Originally from Taiwan, Chen pursued a PhD in genetics and microbiology at Duke University. His doctoral research aimed to enhance immune responses to HIV vaccines by incorporating nanomaterials. Presently, Chen’s research centers on studying children’s immune reactions to SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or immunization. During this interview, we had the privilege of discussing Chen’s research, the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ researchers and his personal experience working in STEMM. Q: Can you tell us about your research interests? A: My major scientific interest is developing better vaccines for different diseases. During my PhD, I collaborated with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke to incorporate novel nanomaterials to HIV vaccine designs. Now, at Weill Cornell Medicine, I lead a project to understand how children’s immune systems respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or vaccination. Because the immune system is still developing in children, they tend to have different immune responses. This project will provide information that guides scientist on how to design vaccines to protect children. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I love working with people who can come up with incredible scientific ideas that solve the problems we have in the real world. Coming from outside of the U.S. to pursue science wasn’t an easy journey, during my PhD I had to cope with the language barrier, cultural difference on top of all the stress from being a PhD student. But I have overcome all the difficulties and defended my PhD in 4.5 years with six publications. I am proud of how much and how fast I have grown in a high-stress environment! Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: In STEMM, it is common that people don’t talk about issues like sexuality, gender identity, etc. Therefore, it is hard to gauge whether a new work environment is friendly to LGBTQIA+ individuals. Sometimes we have to put ourselves back in the closet until we can safely come out again. During the first year of my PhD, I didn’t tell any of my co-workers in the research team about my sexuality until someone who is also gay approached me and told me about Pride in Science 31 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science the LGBTQIA+ student organization he was running. Now, as a more senior researcher among other scientists in the institution, I’m open about my sexuality. That way, any newcomer who identifies themselves as LGBTQIA+ would feel more comfortable with being open about their identity. So, it is important to set an example within the workplace. It may seem insignificant, but it sends a strong message to people that being different is okay and that you’re safe with being your true self. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: I have been very lucky that ever since I started my PhD at Duke, the work environment has been friendly and inclusive with people from different backgrounds and sexual orientations. But I have had people, including my parents, question my decision to pursue HIV research. Even nowadays, a lot of people still think HIV is a “gay” disease or a disease associated with promiscuity. So as an HIV researcher, I sometimes find myself having to educate people that we should treat disease as a disease regardless of who is affected by it or how it is transmitted. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: I would say don’t hesitate to pursue the type of research important to you or to the community you belong to. When I first started my research on HIV vaccines, I was afraid that people would judge me for choosing to research a disease that affects me and the community I belong. But over the years contributing to HIV vaccine development, I find it is the source that motivates me to keep going, and I am proud of being able to make societal impact with my research. Dr. Jui-Lin Chen was speaking to Lucy Lawrence, Digital Content Producer for Technology Networks. 32 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Justin C. Luong, PhD Dr. Justin Luong is a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Davis and identifies as a gay man. Kate Robinson He completed his PhD at the University of California Santa Cruz where he focused understanding restoration outcomes across the state using a combination of plant surveys and management surveys to understand how decision making and lived experiences contribute to vegetation community dynamics. Luong specializes in the use of functional traits, phylogenetics and ecophysiology to assess how plant responses will change with changing climates in an effort to determine how to adjust restoration practices and maximize success during drought and plant invasion. In this interview, we spoke to Luong to learn more about his research into ecological restoration and experiences working in STEMM. Q: Your current research focuses on ecological restoration. Can you tell us more about this work and why you decided to focus your research in this area? A: I chose to work in ecological restoration because I believe we all have a connection with the land and working to improve this connection brings me fulfillment. Before becoming a researcher, I was a restoration practitioner that restored grasslands and seasonal wetlands, but during my work, I became dismayed that restoration science often didn’t consider on the ground issues and perspectives. In my work, I focus on not just how to improve restoration given future global change, but also on how to better incorporate the working experiences of land managers who have a wealth of natural history knowledge that can improve restoration efforts but may be unpublished. I also hope to reach more people with my research and perspective and expand the community-based support for restoration, locally, regionally and globally. To do so I often work with artists to depict layman’s graphical illustration of my published research. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? A: I enjoy being able to ask important questions about environmental management and the opportunity to train our next generation of professionals and scientists through a restoration ecology ivnternship program I created and have hosted since 2018, supporting over 300 students. I also enjoy getting to explore and experience breathtakingly beautiful landscapes which I would have never seen without my research. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career, and if so, how did you overcome them? A: Yes, being a queer person of color, I have often faced obstacles related to the intersectionality of my identities. In the past, my language skills have been questioned and in other cases I was harassed during field work. Although these are not easy obstacles to immediately surmount, Pride in Science 33 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science I slowly overcame these issues by creating a supportive network consisting of folks with similar identities. I also now plan for field work ahead of time to chart out unexpected circumstances and how they could be approached before they occur. Q: What are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM, and what could be done to support them? A: In my opinion, one of the biggest barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering STEMM is that there is often little to no representation, and it is hard to pursue a career path where you have never seen someone like yourself. Another barrier is explicit and implicit biases that LGBTQIA+ people have to face from their colleagues, students and supervisors. Representation can be addressed slowly by building visibility of our community and contributing to networks such as 500QueerScientists and connecting with like-identified individuals within their field on social media platforms. Implicit and explicit biases are hard to address because that will require institutional and structural change which will help reduce biases. In the short term, allies could work with LGBTQIA+ colleagues to ensure they feel supported in their department. Furthermore, when someone repeats falsehoods or biases that are harmful to LGBTQIA+ people, their colleagues should take initiative and action to ensure that those biases are not acted upon. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: It will get better, although things seem hard now, as you get older and start to develop a true community of supporters you will be able to succeed and reach goals and overcome obstacles you never would have dreamed to be possible. Dr. Justin Luong was speaking to Kate Robinson, Assistant Editor for Technology Networks. 34 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Kristal Cain, PhD Dr. Kristal Cain is a senior lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand and identifies as queer and non-gender conforming. Mariana Gil, PhD Cain grew up in rural East Texas and is a first-generation university graduate. After obtaining a PhD from Indiana University, Cain moved to Australia to work as a postdoctoral research fellow at Australian National University and then as a faculty member at the University of Auckland. In this interview, we spoke to Cain to learn more about their research and experience as a queer and gender nonconforming scientist. Q: You run your own lab on behavioral ecology, can you tell us more about your research? A: My research group is interested in animal behavior and appearance variation and the evolution of complex social traits. We are particularly interested in sex differences; we examine entrenched assumptions about sex differences that have been poorly tested. I like to use an assortment of approaches, incorporating tools from behavior, physiology, ecology and genetics. Most of my work focuses on birds. Q: What do you enjoy most about your work and what would you say is your proudest achievement? A: I love that my work is driven by curiosity and that I get to choose my amazing collaborators and students. Equally important is that I can generally avoid working with underwhelming people. A lot of my work has focused on female behavior. In particular, I’ve focused on aspects that have historically been ignored in females (e.g., aggression, singing, hormones). As a result, I’m a part of a new generation of behavioral ecologists that have changed the landscape and forced the field to look at sex differences and sex-roles in a new way. My hope is this will shift society’s perspectives more generally, to expand how we view people and their behaviors – moving away from binary categories and allowing people to exist along spectrums. Q: In your opinion, what are the main barriers for LGBTQIA+ people entering and progressing in STEMM? A: I think the issues in STEMM are just mirrors of issues in the world at large. Sadly, some STEMM folks are overly confident in what they think they know, and we all know what happens when you try to tell biology to follow the rules. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: Many of the barriers I have faced were quite early on and due to being rural or in Texas. We like to think Pride in Science 35 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science scientists are not bigots – as bigotry is not based on facts – but the reality is that scientists are people and people are often scared and ignorant. We all have biases and must work to identify them and unlearn them. Working in the field of sex differences and sex-role variation, I’ve received some flack because I am queer and non-gender-conforming and I am asking biased questions. However, this ignores the fact that scientists always ask biased questions. There are lots of incorrect assumptions built into behavioral ecology that are based on Western and heteronormative perspectives, that are only now being tested. Biases and worldviews always influence the research we conduct – which is why we need diverse people asking diverse questions. Q: Which piece of advice would you give to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their careers? A: The world has changed so much in the last few decades; it is truly astounding. It will keep changing, so don’t lose hope and know that we need you. Research is hard, STEMM is hard, make sure there are things in your life that are easy – friends, fun and fresh air help you pull back and see the wider world in all its beauty. Dr. Kristal Cain was speaking to Dr. Mariana Gil, Senior Science Writer for Technology Networks. 36 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Sebastian Groh, PhD Dr. Sebastian Groh is a research associate at University College London (UCL) and identifies as bisexual and transmasculine, “somewhere between nonbinary and a trans man”, in his own words. Kate Robinson Groh completed his PhD in vertebrate palaeontology in 2018 where he stayed on in his current role. He is the head of the LGBT+ network at the department of Earth Sciences at UCL, the co-founder of Trans in STEM (a group for trans people studying & working in STEM) and a member of the LGBT+ Equality Steering Group at UCL. In this interview, we spoke to Groh to learn more about his research and experiences working in STEMM. Q: Your current research focuses on the evolution of Crocodylomorpha. Can you tell us more about this work and why you decided to focus your research in this area? A: I actually stumbled into this area completely by accident! My PhD program was slightly different in that, once you had secured a place, you had also secured funding to do any PhD you wanted so you could pick whichever project you preferred. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do yet (I knew I wanted to do something paleo/evolution/ ecology related but my expertise thus far had mostly been in invertebrates), so I chatted with several supervisors. I talked to the one I ended up working with because he was offering a paleo PhD, although I knew nothing about vertebrates or crocodiles! We got along amazingly well and by the end of the hour we had enough ideas to fill three theses and I knew I wanted to work with him (this turned out to be the best decision – having a supervisory team you get along with well and who can motivate you is far more important than getting your dream project). Long story short, I learned all I could about Crocodylomorpha and have stuck with the subject ever since! They are an incredibly fascinating group, as old as the dinosaurs, with hundreds of different species throughout evolutionary history. These species used to be hugely diverse – marine crocodiles, miniature crocodiles, even plant-eating crocodiles! My research looks at how, when and where this diversity evolved and how we can improve the research methods in this area in general. Q: What do you enjoy most about working in STEMM? What would you say are your proudest achievements? A: I love learning and teaching myself new things and I still get incredibly excited about science and research in general. Every time I go on a literature search for a new method/new insights, I feel that old excitement rise up inside me again, that hunger for knowledge that I don’t think will ever be quelled. I also very much enjoy academic teaching and lecturing – my proudest moments will always be when students come to me and tell me that they’ve previously had no interest in paleontology, but now that they’ve heard my lectures they love it and want to know more about the field and potentially work in it! (Also, on a more humorous side, I managed to publish a paper titled Pride in Science 37 TECHNOLOGYNETWORKS.COM Pride in Science “How to date a crocodile” which I am still happy my coauthors and the editor agreed to) Q: You are the cofounder of Trans in STEM. Can you tell us more about the group, its aims and impact? How important are groups such as this to the LGBTQIA+ community? A: I co-founded the group in 2018 with another transgender scientist after we realized that there wasn’t really a network for trans people who are studying or working in STEM. We are very loosely organized, with a Facebook group and Twitter account – the closed group on FB is meant as a safe space for trans people to discuss their experiences and ask for advice and we have over one hundred members now! There’s more of us than you’d think. On our Twitter account we try to spread awareness about the issues faced by trans people in STEM and boost the amazing science that is being done by us. It’s great to see how many people have found others to connect to via our little virtual network and are now feeling less isolated and alone in their experiences. Q: Have you faced any obstacles in your career due to identifying as LGBTQIA+? A: Of course, things are never easy – besides the usual transphobia/queerphobia that I’ve experienced just like everyone else (deadnaming, misgendering, slurs, insults, etc.) and that weighs down your mental health, something that will always sadden me a little is that there are quite a few places I cannot safely travel to because of being queer, be it for field work/museum work or conferences. It has also proven a big challenge to have my name changed to in journals where I published before I came out and began transitioning. Transitioning itself also is a limiting factor – hormone therapy for me requires GP visits at least every ten weeks so if I were to do fieldwork or go somewhere for a visiting semester, I could never stay away for longer than that. Also, the lack of gender-neutral toilet facilities in many buildings/conference venues is a problem. Of course, these are things that you try to work around nonetheless but they do make life a little harder! Q: If you could give one piece of advice to young LGBTQIA+ researchers beginning their career, what would it be? A: Find your people! Try and join organizations or groups of people facing the same challenges at you, be it at your institution or the wider academic world (e.g., Pride in STEM, 500 Queer Scientists, your own local LGBTQIA+ staff or student groups, etc.). And remember to have a life outside research and academia, the job isn’t everything! Dr. Sebastian Groh was speaking to Kate Robinson, Assistant Editor for Technology Networks.