Hello, and welcome back to another Scientist Spotlight! Today’s special guest is another amazing woman in STEM. Dr. Laura Sullivan-Beckers is an assistant professor at my alma mater, Murray State University (she also happened to be part of my thesis committee and one of my favorite professors during my time at MSU). Her research focuses on animal communication and how various behaviors are shaped by evolutionary forces. Her lab studies spiders, which made me think she would make the perfect guest for our Creepy Crawly Halloween spotlight! I’m so glad she agreed to answer my questions. Without further ado, get ready to learn all about Dr. Laura Sullivan-Beckers and her journey to becoming a scientist!
What made you want to become a scientist?
I was already an undergraduate in a fish and wildlife biology program when I found my passion for research. Before that, I thought I wanted to work at a national or state park, but after attending an animal behavior conference, and listening to a bunch of talks on frog and insect communication, I knew my career path was forever changed. All the lightbulbs in my head flashed at once, and I knew that THIS, research on animal communication, was what I wanted to become an expert in. I no longer wanted to give bird watching tours to the public, I wanted to discover something new.
When did you know you wanted to become a scientist?
I was in my mid-20s! It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do in life. My first undergraduate degree was in Spanish. After graduating, I took a year off and worked at a vet clinic in Tulsa, OK. I thought about going to vet school, but decided it wasn’t for me. I started bird watching during that year and got really interested in birdsong and how birds learn their species-specific songs. I found a wildlife biology program at a small school not far from Tulsa and decided to enroll. I got my B.S. in biology after 2 years (all of my general education requirements transferred from my previous degree), and started looking for graduate schools. I skipped the master’s degree and went straight from my (two-year) bachelor’s into a Ph.D. program. I started my Ph.D. program at the University of Missouri when I was 25.
What did you do to become a scientist?
As an undergraduate, I attended a professional meeting on animal behavior. Perhaps no other experience has shaped my career more. The summer before starting my Ph.D. program, I worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation tracking songbirds in the Missouri Ozarks. I learned to identify birds just by song, which is a skill that I still use today. This research experience also shaped me as a scientist. The research experiences that I had as a Ph.D. student and later as a postdoctoral researcher (University of Nebraska) really trained me to think like a scientist.
What does your typical day look like?
Before COVID…
From August-May, I spend most of my day (9 am-5 pm) preparing for classes that I teach (typically, Human Anatomy, Zoology, Ornithology). I usually teach two classes with multiple labs each semester, and this requires a lot of my time and mental energy. My research season starts when the weather warms in the spring and the spiders and insects become active again. I do most of my research from April-July and those days can be very long, but really fun. We have to squeeze in all of the data for a year in just a few weeks, so those weeks require intensive schedules.
What is your favorite thing about being a scientist?
The thrill of discovery! I do very basic (non-applied) research. I love this aspect of the job because I yearn to understand why animals behave the way they do. For me, nothing is more satisfying than hearing a spider’s vibrational signal for the first time or seeing how a male and female spider negotiate pair formation with subtle movements and decisions.
What is your least favorite thing about being a scientist?
Not enough time to devote to research.
How did you decide what area of science to specialize in?
I have had an interest in languages since I was about 12 years old. I didn’t realize that it would lead to a career in biology, but it did! As a kid, I was fascinated by foreign languages. When I got turned on to animal languages, I was hooked and knew I had found my niche. It married my love of language with the drive to discover.
If you weren’t a scientist, what do you think you would be doing for a living?
I hope I would have pursued my interest in languages to become an academic in linguistics.
What area would you NEVER want to study?
English literature
What is your favorite animal?
Impossible to answer.
Favorite insect: hummingbird moth or firefly, but social insects are super cool too Favorite mammal: otters? elephants fascinate me too
Favorite mollusk: I love snails and cephalopods
Favorite animal to watch: songbirds, otters, and sea lions
Favorite backyard bird: bluebirds, wrens, hummingbirds
What do you like to do when you’re not being a scientist?
I love to garden for insects! I also have a vegetable garden, which I know is more practical, but I am passionate about finding native flowers that will attract cool insects to the yard.
What is your favorite memory from the field/doing research?
I went on a spider collecting trip to the San Diego area as a postdoc. My postdoc advisor and I spent many days and nights looking for particular wolf spiders, but we had a lot of fun adventures along the way (nearly getting bitten by a rattlesnake, collecting black widows, and getting stopped by border control).
What is your favorite random science fact?
While I was an instructor at Indiana University I was asked to teach a course called The Biological Basis of Sex Differences. I fell in love with the topic and have managed to work a lot of the material into many of the classes that I am still teaching today. As embryos, the human sexes (typically women and men) start out with the same “reproductive machinery.” The tissues that make up an embryonic gonad have the chance to become either a testis or an ovary. Embryonic gonads are like Gobstoppers! There is an inner layer and an outer layer. In one type of embryo, the inner layer develops and the outer layer disintegrates. In the other type of embryo, the outer layer develops and the inner layer disintegrates. This initial difference kicks off a cascade of changes that leads to many of the differences that we see between the biological sexes, and can give rise to a spectrum of sexual phenotypes rather than the two categories that we traditionally consider.
Thank you for joining me for another Scientist Spotlight and a big thank you, once again, to Dr. Sullivan-Beckers for participating! I loved getting to learn more about Dr. Sullivan-Beckers and her science journey. The biggest thing I took away from reading her responses is that it’s ok if you don’t know exactly what you want to do until later in life! You don’t have to have your whole life figured out at 18 when you graduate high school. It is totally fine to change your mind and take your time to figure out where you want to be in life. If someone had told 18 year old me that I would be starting a career in science communication after dreaming of being a marine biologist since I was in diapers I would have laughed them out of the room. Instead, here I am, loving what I am doing, but also still dreaming of getting to work with marine life hands-on. My new dream career doesn’t mean my old dream still isn’t there deep in my heart. They also aren’t mutually exclusive! I can do both! Don’t limit yourself to a narrow path just because you think you have to have it all figured out. What did you learn from Dr. Sullivan-Beckers? Let me know below!
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