People Behind the Science Podcast Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Dr. Samantha Maragh is Leader of the Genome Editing Program and Co-Leader of the Biomarker and Genomic Sciences Group at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She also represents the U.S. as a technical expert on nucleic acid measurements for the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee on Biotechnology (ISO TC 276). Scientists at NIST work to develop controls and standards to make sure that measurements, tools, and all of the systems that rely on them are correct. Samantha’s work focuses particularly on genome editing, which has a variety of applications, including new treatments for diseases, agriculture, and more. When she’s not working, Samantha loves cooking and enjoying food, especially seafood. For her, cooking is like science, but even more flexible and creative. Some of her other favorite pastimes include singing at her church on Sundays and playing puzzle games like Best Fiends. Samantha received her B.S. degree in Biology with a specialization in Cellular & Molecular Biology and a minor in chemistry from Loyola University. She went on to get her M.S. degree in Biotechnology: Molecular Targets & Drug Discovery from Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. in Human Genetics & Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In 2019, Samantha received the Outstanding Young Scientist Award from The State of Maryland, The Maryland Academy of Sciences, and the Maryland Science Center. She was also selected as the recipient of the George A. Uriano Award in 2021 for her success in building the NIST Genome Editing Consortium as a public-private partnership. In 2022 she received the Measurement Science Excellence Award from the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory for leading the development of the first international standard for the field of genome editing published in 2021 and deploying the first inter-laboratory study for the genome editing field. In this interview, she talks more about her life and science.

Dr. Erin Conwell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Coordinator for the PhD program in Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience at North Dakota State University. Erin studies how children aged 6 and younger learn about the structure of their native language. She is conducting studies to determine how they understand what we say to them and how they produce words, sentences, and phrases that are understandable to us. She also examines how children’s understanding and representation of language changes over the course of their first 6 years of life. Erin spends her free time hanging out with her husband and daughter. As a researcher of childhood development, she has often found herself closely observing and celebrating the milestones of her own daughter’s development. In addition, Erin is an avid reader who typically makes it through 80-100 books per year. Her other hobbies include knitting and curling. She received her undergraduate degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT and her PhD in Cognitive and Linguistic Science from Brown University. Her dissertation research received the Peter W. Jusczyk Award. Afterward, Erin conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Erin is with us today to tell us about some of her experiences in life and science.

Dr. Carmel Majidi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. There, he also holds courtesy appointments in the Robotics Institute and in Civil and Environmental Engineering. In Carmel’s soft machines lab, they are engineering new types of materials that can be used to make machines and robots soft, flexible, and more lifelike. The goal is for these machines to move more like natural organisms. When not working, Carmel is often out engaging in physical activities including hitting the gym or walking/jogging in nearby parks and along river trails. He also enjoys the arts and travel. Carmel travels frequently for work, and he likes to block off extra time on these trips to visit museums and cultural landmarks. Carmel received his B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton University as well as at Harvard University before joining the faculty at Carnegie Mellon. Over the course of his career, Carmel has received numerous awards and honors, including the Young Faculty Awards from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). He has also received the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Early Career Faculty Award, as well as the George Tallman Ladd Award and Carnegie Institute of Technology Dean’s Early Career Fellowship from Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, Carmel was named a PopTech Science Fellow in 2013. In our interview Carmel discusses his experiences in life and science.

Dr. Fiona "Boo" Maisels is a Conservation Scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and an Honorary Professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences in the African Forest Ecology Group at the University of Stirling in Scotland. Boo’s research has focused on understanding the natural world and the interactions between plants, animals, people, and landscapes. In her work as a conservation scientist, Boo is also working to find ways to solve the problems they identify in these interactions to better preserve the natural world. When she’s not working, Boo spends her time walking around outdoors where she can enjoy the flowers, trees, birds, and everything else that’s alive. There are many great green spaces where she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, but Boo really loves exploring different forests around the world. She completed her PhD and postdoctoral fellowship at Edinburgh University and has worked as a conservation scientist since then in the Central African tropical forest region. Boo is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and she also previously served as an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Stirling. In this interview, she shares more about her life and science.

Dr. Douglas Futuyma is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University. He also holds an appointment as a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History. Throughout his career, Douglas has been fascinated by evolution and how species adapt to their environments. Much of his research has examined the ways in which insects that eat plants have evolved (or failed to evolve) in their ability to eat different kinds of plants. Beyond his specific research area of expertise, Douglas has taught courses on evolution and evolutionary ecology, as well as served as a general spokesperson for evolution. Douglas is a passionate naturalist who loves being outdoors and expanding his knowledge of natural history. He has also been an avid birdwatcher for many years. Each weekend, Douglas joins other members of the local birding community to observe birds in their area. In addition, Douglas is an opera and classical music enthusiast. Douglas received his B.S. in Conservation from Cornell University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Michigan. After receiving his Ph.D., Douglas joined the faculty at Stony Brook University where he has worked for most of his career. He served on the faculty at the University of Michigan for a few years from 2002-2004 before returning to Stony Brook. Douglas has written one of the most popular textbooks on Evolution and has received numerous awards and honors over the course of his career. He is an elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Senior Scholarship, the Sewall Wright Award from the American Society of Naturalists, the Joseph Leidy Award from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, and an Honorary Doctoral Degree from the National University of Mongolia. In our interview Douglas shared stories from his own life and science.