Adventure, Botany, & Conservation: The ABCs of Ynés Mexia

Manasvi Verma is a 2nd year PhD student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard Medical School studying host-microbiome interactions in the human gut. Corena Loeb is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Harvard-MIT program in Speech, Hearing, Bioscience and Technology. Cover image by Pexels from Pixabay. This biography is part of our “Picture a Scientist” initiative. To learn more about the amazing men … Continue reading Adventure, Botany, & Conservation: The ABCs of Ynés Mexia

Adventure, Botany, & Conservation: The ABCs of Ynés Mexia

by Manasvi Verma In all my travels I’ve never been attacked by a wild animal, lost my way or caught a disease… I don’t think there’s any place in the world where a woman can’t venture. – Ynés Mexía As the climate disaster becomes more imminent, environmental conservation is a pressing need. Recently at the forefront of public discourse, this movement has been simmering behind-the-scenes … Continue reading Adventure, Botany, & Conservation: The ABCs of Ynés Mexia

Gertrude Elion: Forging the path towards a cure for cancer

Jasmin Joseph-Chazan is a second-year PhD student in the Immunology department at Harvard University. You can find her on Twitter as @chazanjasmin. Isabella Fraschilla is a Ph.D. student in the Immunology Program at Harvard Medical School. She is studying how immune cells regulate commensal gut bacteria. Cover image by Arek Socha from Pixabay. This biography is part of our “Picture a Scientist” initiative. To learn … Continue reading Gertrude Elion: Forging the path towards a cure for cancer

Gertrude Elion: Forging the path towards a cure for cancer

by Isabella Fraschilla Despite never receiving a PhD, Gertrude Elion was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine. She shared this prize with Sir James Black and her mentor George Hitchings for revolutionizing pharmacology by rejecting the standard trial-and-error approach for rational drug design. Their critical work in understanding drug metabolism and physiological processes resulted in the rare Nobel Prize awarded to employees of a … Continue reading Gertrude Elion: Forging the path towards a cure for cancer

Edward Bouchet: Trailblazer, teacher, and public servant

Tamina Kienka is a third year student in the MD-PhD program at Harvard University. Jovana Andrejevic is a fifth-year Applied Physics Ph.D. student in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. Cover image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. This biography is part of our “Picture a Scientist” initiative. To learn more about the amazing men and women who paved the way for … Continue reading Edward Bouchet: Trailblazer, teacher, and public servant

Edward Bouchet: Trailblazer, teacher, and public servant

by Tamina Kienka In the fall of 1852, Edward Bouchet was born to a freed slave living in New Haven, Connecticut. His father worked as a laborer and his mother as a housewife. They were both active in their local abolitionist movement and encouraged Edward Bouchet and his three older sisters to gain an education.  Given the still segregated public school system, Bouchet attended the … Continue reading Edward Bouchet: Trailblazer, teacher, and public servant

Margaret Strickland Collins: Civil rights activist and “termite lady”

by Olivia Foster Rhoades Termites are more than just pests. With over 2,800 species in the world, termites keep soils healthy, can communicate through vibrations,  and termite queens can live upwards of 30 years. Equalling humans in their biomass, these six-legged wood-eaters are an integral part of our world. Much of our understanding of termites, also known as Isoptera, comes from the work of one … Continue reading Margaret Strickland Collins: Civil rights activist and “termite lady”

Margaret Strickland Collins: Civil rights activist and “termite lady”

by Olivia Foster Rhoades Olivia Foster Rhoades is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Harvard & is pursuing a concentration in STS at the Harvard Kennedy School. You can find her on Twitter as @OKFoster. Cover image by GimpWorkshop from Pixabay. This biography is part of our “Picture a Scientist” initiative. To learn more about the amazing men and … Continue reading Margaret Strickland Collins: Civil rights activist and “termite lady”

James E. Bowman: Making history in science and society

Tian Lu is a graduate student in the Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences. He uses fluorescent microscopy to study spatial-multiomics. Xiaomeng Han is a graduate student in the Harvard Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience. She uses electron microscopy to study neuronal connectivity. Cover image, by H. Alexander Talbot via Wikimedia Commons, is licensed under CC BY 2.0  This biography is part of our “Picture a Scientist” … Continue reading James E. Bowman: Making history in science and society

James E. Bowman: Making history in science and society

by Tian Lu James Edward Bowman was born in Washington, D.C. on February 5, 1923. He grew up in a segregated environment which he described saying “there was complete segregation. … One could only go to theaters, movies, restaurants in the black neighborhood.” He graduated with honors from Dunbar High School and earned his bachelor’s degree in Biology from Howard University in 1943. Inspired by … Continue reading James E. Bowman: Making history in science and society