Attention before boarding!

by Catarina Marcolin

Image by Caia Colla

Hello to all again. It has been some time since I last wrote for this blog, even longer since I've boarded a ship, but many memories came to me after the World Ocean Day. Most memories are good, but some, not so much.

In posts published on this blog, you might have read about the adventures of working at sea, diving to the bottom of the ocean, or traveling the world in foreign ships. But working on an oceanographic vessel is not always a fantastic experience, especially if you are a woman.

It is important to be mindful that, when on a ship, one is also confined, surrounded by the ocean. Often, there is no access to a telephone, no internet, no way of visiting friends or family, and no way of going home whenever you want. In at least the last five oceanographic cruises I have participated in, I met only one female crewmember - she was a nurse on a supply ship which assisted oil platforms. On oceanographic ships, don't expect to see crew-women. In the scientific crew, yes, it is easier to find women, even when there's clear preference for men, because many tasks involve body strength. There's a need to carry boxes, nets, flasks, and other heavy equipment. But that’s not all! To be successful, the science crewmembers need strong skills in leadership, taking initiative, communication, management, and dealing with equipment. The work is very challenging, but against the common sense, I met women that are far better than a lot of guys in crew.

I was once stopped from boarding a boat that was poised for my doctoral research, under the “argument” that there were no suitable facilities on the boat for a woman.

If you think that this isn’t a big deal, and that this male to female imbalance in passengers on ships is normal, maybe you can imagine some level of vulnerability that women may be subjected to in such an environment. I have always been aboard research cruises with large groups of researchers and wonderful ship crews. I have always been treated with respect. Unfortunately, this level of respect is not always found in day-to-day research cruises.

To illustrate this vulnerability, I interviewed two biologists that told me about very inadequate situations they've been through while aboard a boat off of the Brazilian coast. In this post I'll tell the story of one of them; she decided to stay anonymous, so I'll refer to her as M.

CWN: Have you ever been excluded from an expedition so a man could go in your place?

M: That has never happened to me, although there is a preference in our laboratory for men to go, under the argument that there is a need to carry heavy objects on board.

CWN: How many times have you worked on a boat, and in how many of those trips did you feel uncomfortable or find yourself in inconvenient situations that made you feel insecure?

M: I have been on four cruises. Two of them put me in very uncomfortable situations, and I felt insecure in one of them.

CWN: Could you share a story about an uncomfortable situation you've been through?

M: I was on a ship twice, consulting in an environmental monitoring study. One of the crewmembers that worked on the deck made constant jokes about my accent. But he had issues with other members of the staff too.

The second situation, the one that made me feel insecure, happened on a ship that I rather not say the name of or the institution it's related to. I never thought I would go through that experience on a vessel connected with such a respectable institution. I had heard rumors about expeditions from the past, and I confess, I was a little worried about this experience, but I never thought that what happened, could have.

Some of the crewman had very inappropriate behavior. Everyday we would share the dining room with them. Before we had the chance to finish our meals, some of them (that had a high position in the boat's hierarchy) would play music videos of half-naked women (funk, axé, pagode) that always had images of men and women in insinuating situations, alluding to sexual acts, and very loud. Aside from that, every day there was drinking, and the crew would exhaustively offer us alcoholic beverages, especially to women, with the clear intention of trying to get us intoxicated. They would try to exalt their merits all the time, as an attempt of conquest. I would leave the room when those activities started, and some men would come after me asking why I wouldn't join them, insisting, and harassing me.

This didn't bother only the women, several of our male colleagues were also bothered, but they never spoke up. This situation kept growing, leading up to my next story. It is important to say that this was not everyone's behavior. While we were harassed by some, other crewmen treated us respectfully.

On one particular day, there was a get-together with a barbecue, and drinking started early in the morning. One of the crewmen drank so much he threatened to jump off of the boat, which caused a lot of confusion and trouble. During dinner, one of our male colleagues was eating while one of the falling-over drunk crewmen, spilled beer on the table. After a useless effort to clean it, he threw a dirty napkin on our colleague's plate, which really upset our colleague, as the action was interpreted as a racist move.

Facing all of that mess, I could not even have dinner that day because of all the embarrassment. I went to the pantry to get a piece of fruit and stopped for a while to talk to one of the crewmen about the situation. Then, another drunk crewman came over and started asking questions about one of my female colleagues. I tried to leave, but he kept stopping me and asking me to bring my friend. The other crewman that I was talking to defended me, so I could get out. I realized there were a lot of crewmembers feeling a sense of indignation, because their professional class could not tolerate this kind of behavior. What left me feeling more insecure was the fact that we could never talk to the captain of the ship; we could never see him and he never answered our calls or our contact attempts.

Luckily for us, one of the crewmen took our case to the captain, who took some action, we don't know what, but we didn't see the crewman that caused most of the trouble again. We were called to a meeting with the chief mate that finally listened to our claims and had a meeting with the “troublemakers,” forbidding the use of alcohol, the insulting videos, and the behaviors that caused us discomfort. The captain asked the harasser to publicly apologize to me and my colleague (about the dinner event), but nothing else happened to the other harassers.

During that expedition, something broke on the ship, so it was not possible to collect all of our research samples. The ship lost its speed and couldn't sail properly. The ship didn't land where it should have, taking us straight to the final destination, and the reason for that was not disclosed to us researchers. It took seven days to get to the final spot, all while we didn't know what was happening.

This same ship and crew were available to us again to finish the work that was not concluded. I was again in that expedition, and thankfully, we didn't have any other embarrassing situations arise.

However, there was a stressful and worrying situation. We were dragging a bongo net, which was supposed to go down to 200 m. We realized that was taking too little time. We found out that the person responsible for operating the hoist received orders from a superior crewmen to release less rope than needed so the work would be finished faster, which compromised our sampling and data quality.

CWN: Why do you think the crewmember responsible for the operations tried to sabotage your work? Do you think it was ignorance or a deliberate attempt to “get revenge”?

M: I have no idea. We didn't get an explanation. We don't know if it was revenge, if it was disrespect for us being women (the chief of the expedition was a woman), if it was laziness, impatience to get back home, disrespect for the work environment… Anyway, whatever the motive was, it is very lamentable for all it represents, and it is a waste of public money!

It is also very important to consider the loss of valuable scientific information, caused by irresponsible and unreliable work from the ship crew. This is especially true for the current state of our country, where obtaining resources for field collections in ocean research has been increasingly difficult.

In the end, all stories I hear and share show clearly that while on a ship, being it for scientific research or parallel consulting, there is prejudice coming from the male crew towards women. Women are still thought of as the “fragile sex.” This inappropriateness makes life on board even more challenging when the day-to-day work already demands physical strength and adaptations to the labor done in an environment ruled by the movement of the marine currents. 

Research in the remote islands of Brazil

By Fernanda Imperatrice Colabuono

The oceanic islands of Brazil are not well known by the majority of people, despite the fact that they hold significant strategic, economic, and scientific importance. They harbor a rich diversity of life, including endemic species – species that can only exist there. Two of those islands, Fernando de Noronha and Abrolhos, are inhabited and/or used for tourism purposes, with some restrictions. Three other island regions, The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, Rocas Atoll, and Trindade Island are still little known remote places with restricted access. During my doctorate at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo, I had the opportunity to join scientific expeditions to these three places, through a research project with the objective of studying the persistent organic pollutants occurring in remote places.

Fig.1.Location of the Brazilian islands and oceanic archipelagos and distance from the nearest capitals. Source: Almeida, F.F.M. (2006).

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago is located about 1100 km (680 miles) from the coast of the Rio Grande do Norte state, almost midway between Brazil and Africa. These are the only Brazilian oceanic islands located in the Northern hemisphere. The trip from the state capital, Natal, to the Archipelago was a three day journey made in a fishing boat. I went there in March 2009, and I distinctly remember arriving to Natal's Harbor to meet the vessel that was to carry three other researchers, the crew, and myself; upon seeing the boat, it was hard to believe that we would cross nearly half of the Atlantic ocean in that way! Of course everything was fine, and we were neither the first nor the last group of researchers to make this journey. The fishermen were experienced,

and the seas were in our favor. When we were close to the Archipelago, we could see a group of tiny rocky islands. Those are, in fact, peaks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends all the way through the Atlantic Ocean, from Antarctica to the Arctic.

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

When we landed on Belmonte Island, the main island of the Archipelago and where the research station is, we could see that birds occupied all areas on the island with nests or resting spots. These hosts of the Archipelago, which welcome all visitors with strong pecking, are known as Boobies. Space is a limiting factor for these birds, so they always try to protect their territories, even amongst their own species.

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

Rocas Atoll, also located near the Equatorial Line, is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful and preserved places on Earth, thanks to the courage and perseverance of the people that work and care for that spot. By the way, those are the two main qualities that one must have to work in environmental conservancy. In the beginning of 2010, I spent around 20 days acquiring samples on the atoll, collecting plastic pieces around the island. Plastic waste arrives daily from different places, probably from other islands, the continent, and passing ships, and they accumulate on the atoll beaches. It's impressive that human actions can impact such remote places, sometimes places that we don't even know exist.

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

My last expedition was to Trindade Island, in January 2012. Located around 1200 km (750 miles) from the continental coast, it is the biggest of the three islands and is part of the Vitoria-Trindade seamount chain. The island hosts several species of birds, invertebrates, fish, and diverse flora, and it is an important destination for sea turtle reproduction. Since the island's discovery hundreds of years ago, the Trindade Island has been visited by illustrious personalities, such as the astronomer Edmond Halley (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Halley), and the naturalist James Cook (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook). Consequently, the island also suffers from the impact of human actions, such as the introduction of exotic animals, which has changed the environment and caused negative effects that can still be seen today. Nowadays, the island is the location for the Oceanographic Station of Trindade Island, a scientific station run by the Brazilian Navy, which is used by researchers from all over.

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

By being a part of these expeditions, I was given an incredible opportunity to get to know these different ecosystems, experience the local's lives, observe the behavior of the animals, and gain knowledge through experience, just as naturalists did decades and decades ago.

To spend time, even if brief, in places where you need to adapt to such unique environments, so different from the ones we are used to, was a deeply personal experience of developing self-knowledge, detachment, and learning to overcome.

Photo: Fernanda Colabuono

In this age of technology, it's become usual to not be able to communicate with the “external world.” You have to deal with the fact that you won't know about your friends and family for a while – and they won't know about you. To spend a month showering only in seawater, or having no “real” toilet to use may seem a little odd, but one can adapt. Some of these experiences may sound scary, but they become pleasant and can even be missed.

The feeling I had when visiting these places, where nature is the dominating force, is that man is only a visitor; we don't belong and we were not invited. My intention is not to be negative, but rather to show how strong Nature's presence is in places where humankind has not imposed itself as much. These are places that belong to the fauna and flora that have adapted to inhabit there. It would be great to maintain these islands as they are for the benefit of the great diversity of fish, birds, plants and other unique organisms that call these remote places home.

About Fernanda Colabuono:

Fernanda Imperatrice Colabuono is a biologist that has been working with seabirds since 2001. She is enrolled in a post-doctorate program in the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo, where she conducts ecological and conservation research on Antarctic birds, using pollutants and stable isotopes as ecological and environmental tracers.  

Honey, I’m pregnant!

By Raquel Moreira Saraiva and Yonara Garcia

Image (right): Flickr

Today we are going to talk about the Super Dad of the animal kingdom, the seahorse! This peculiar organism is considered a Super Dad for a good reason: the males become pregnant! That's it! Seahorses stand out in the animal kingdom because the males are responsible for all parental care after fertilization: they carry the pups during gestation, experience the "birth pangs," and finally give birth! Recent research also shows that seahorse daddies have even more similarities to human mommies than we thought! But before we talk about those peculiarities, let's get to know a little bit about seahorses in general.

Two "pregnant" seahorses.

Image: Flickr

Seahorses are bony fishes (teleosts) belonging to the genus Hippocampus and the syngnathidae family (Syngnathidae). This family has the unique developmental characteristic of viviparity, where embryonic development occurs within the body (the same as humans), which in this case, is the paternal body. There are more than 50 species of seahorses distributed throughout the world in tropical and temperate regions. Of these, three species occur on the Brazilian coast: Hippocampus reidi, Hippocampus erectus, and Hippocampus patagonicus, present in the marine and estuarine environment.

Representatives of the three species of seahorses that occur in Brazil: Hippocampus reidi, Hippocampus erectus, and Hippocampus patagonicus, respectively.

Images:  Projeto Hippocampus

These fish move vertically through wave movements of their dorsal fins, which vibrate rapidly. This type of vertical locomotion slows them down to the point of being considered one of the slowest fish in the oceans. Seahorses are predators, with a diet based on plankton, crustaceans, and small animals that are sucked through their tubular snout. They are also skillful at camouflaging themselves: if they feel threatened, they can change color and develop skin projections that mimic algae or coral polyps. Additionally, they can become rigid and immobile, fixing themselves on algae and corals through their prehensile tail. But these disguises are not infallible: crabs, some carnivorous fish (e.g. tuna), penguins, sea birds, and even humans predate upon adult seahorses (to learn more about plankton, read our post O que você sabe sobre o plâncton?).

Seahorses mimic the environment when they feel threatened.

Images: Flickr

Most seahorses are monogamous, so that both the male and the female of a formed pair repel other partners who try to interfere with the relationship. For mating, they perform a type of dance in which they synchronize their movements, turning around one another with interlaced tails. Male pregnancy has interesting implications for the classic sex roles in mating. In most species, males compete for access to females, so it is common to see the evolution of secondary sex characteristics * in males. According to researcher Adam Jones of the University of Texas, in the case of seahorses, females exhibit a competitive behavior that is typically characteristic of males. In addition, males appear "demanding" in relation to the choice of their partners, an attribute commonly observed in females.

Illustration: Joana Ho

Now let's get down to business: how can males in this group get pregnant? The male seahorse has a specialized brood pouch where the female places her oocytes (reproductive cells). When it is ready to mate, the male signals the female by filling the pouch with water. The female, in turn, swims and presses against it, placing her ovipositor into a dilated hole in the male's pouch. After the oocytes are transferred, the hole closes, and the male fertilizes them. Thus begins the development of the babies (called fry) inside the body of the male.

The gestation period of this group varies greatly, according to the species and the water temperature, and can occur between ten days to six weeks. In tropical regions, seahorses have a gestation period of around 12 days. They reproduce throughout the year, and from the first year of life, a couple is able to produce more than 1000 larvae per gestation.

Seahorse giving birth.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgoinj5XGR0

The challenges of pregnancy are the same for all animals, including ensuring the adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients to the embryos. Recent studies have shown that several animal taxa have overcome these challenges in a similar way. Seahorse embryos, like many other viviparous animals, acquire many nutrients from the vitellus of the mother’s egg, which is equivalent to the egg yolks of chickens. Researcher Dr. Camilla Whittington and colleagues at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia, have shown in studies published in Molecular Biology and Evolution that additional nutrients, such as calcium and some lipids, are secreted by the fathers from the brood pouch and absorbed by the embryos. In addition, the dad’s pouch also maintains the complex challenges of gas exchange, excreta removal, and providing immunological protection to the young!

Pregnancy is accompanied by many morphophysiological adaptations, such as the remodeling of the brood pouch, transport of nutrients and residues, gas exchange, osmoregulation, and immunological protection of embryos. Another curiosity discovered by researchers is that the genetics related to these adaptations are very similar to the genetic expression of the internal reproduction of mammals, reptiles, and other fish. It is surprising that, even in animals with very distant evolutionary histories, the genetic tools for reproduction have developed remarkably similar to each other, even between viviparous aplacental (seahorses) and placental (mammalian) animals (Caspermeyer, 2015; Whittington et al., 2015).

Seahorse populations are declining worldwide. In addition to their limited locomotion capacity, the destruction of their habitat and incidental and targeted fisheries have threatened the lives of these fish. There is high demand for live specimens among ornamental fish enthusiests. Dehydrated, they are used as ingredients of homemade and industrialized drugs and as decoration, which leaves them even more vulnerable. The purchase of these fish, even alive, encourages their capture and trade, in addition to contributing to the ecological imbalance. Genetic, physiological, and ecological studies of these animals help not only to understand their biology and the evolutionary steps that led to the inversion in sexual behavior, but also contribute knowledge to the management of these species. The best option is to leave seahorses in their natural habitat, reduce exploitation, and take care of the environments in which they live, including coral reefs and mangroves. This way you can get to know these fish better while helping in their preservation.

Dehydrated seahorses being sold at a market in Hong Kong. In Asia they are much appreciated in cooking and as raw material for the manufacture of medicines.

Image: Britt-Arnhild’s House in the Woods

*secondary characters: characteristics that develop during the sexual maturity of animals, but which, unlike the sexual organs, are not part of the reproductive system.

To learn more about the subject:

Projeto Hippocampus - Iniciativa do Laboratório de Aquicultura Marinha - LABAQUAC para educação ambiental e estudos de conservação de cavalos-marinhos. www.projetohippocampus.org

Caspermeyer, J. Unraveling the Genetic Basis of Seahorse Male Pregnancy Mol Biol Evol (2015) 32 (12): 3278 first published online November 17, 2015 doi:10.1093/molbev/msv238

Jones, AG & Avise, JC. Mating Systems and Sexual Selection in Male-Pregnant Pipefishes and Seahorses: Insights from Microsatellite-Based Studies of Maternity J Hered, 2001.

Rosa IL, Oliveira TPR, Osório FM, Moraes LE, Castro ALC, Barros GML & Alves RRN. Fisheries and trade of seahorses in Brazil: historical perspective, current trends, and future directions. Biodivers Conserv, 2011.

Silveira, R. B. Dinâmica populacional do cavalo-marinho hippocampus reidi no manguezal de Maracaípe, Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brasil. (2005).

Whittington CM, Griffith OW, Qi W, Thompson MB & Wilson AB. Seahorse brood pouch transcriptome reveals common genes associated with vertebrate pregnancy.Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2015.

A foreigner researching in Brazil

By Sabine Schultes

While writing this post, I'm at my work desk in the Munich Biology Faculty. From the window, I see green fields; the only salt water in a 600km (~370 mi) radius is a mere 20L (~5 gal) of artificial seawater in the laboratory, in a bucket containing copepods of the species Acartia tonsa. That's what is connecting me with my great passion, the study of biological oceanography.

Copepods are minuscule crustaceans, around 1 millimeter (~0.04 in) in length. With the naked eye, they look like jumping little dust particles in water. They live in all water ecosystems including lakes, rivers, underground water, and oceans. Their numbers seemingly rival the stars in the universe, and as they are so numerous, they have an important role in ocean ecology. They consume the biomass created by microalgae through sun energy – in a process called primary production – and transfer it to fish, as fish like to eat copepods. (Learn more about it here)

Copepods

I have worked with copepods from the temperate waters of the North Atlantic, from the cold Antarctic ocean, and in 2007 I went to work as a post-doctoral researcher in the Oceanographic Institute of USP (University of São Paulo) to get to know the tropical copepods. What a joy! …and, at the same time, what an adventure to live in São Paulo, in a country 12000 km away from Germany. I jumped in without thinking twice and, when in a taxi at “Marginal Tietê,” between Guarulhos and the University City, I suddenly realized that I was far away from home. It is in these transitional moments, moving from one world to another, that all details are fixed in our memories. I was warmly welcomed by the “Paulistanos” (those who live in São Paulo) and, although Brazil is known for its beaches, samba and caipirinha, I had the opportunity to work with high-end technology in my research field.

I was in charge of two sophisticated instruments for my copepod analysis. My job was to establish measurements and calibration protocols. There was no bias or concern that “a woman does not understand technology.” Every day my learning experience was huge: living in a big city in a tropical country, Portuguese, image analysis techniques, electronic data exchange. Also huge was the help I received from science colleagues from Brazil, Canada and France. In only a short while, it was possible to christen the equipment in the Oceanography base at Ubatuba. For a marine science researcher, that was a dream coming true.

The famous LOPC is a particle profiler, that can detect, count and measure plankton with high spatial resolution. By Catarina Marcolin.

Another dream was coming true with the expedition of the project PROABROLHOS: to study with said equipment the zooplanktonic (copepods and other tiny animals) distribution on the Abrolhos Bank. There's a bunch of fish there, and remember that fish like to eat copepods! In this project, researchers from various universities of Brazil and the world joined forces in order to enhance the understanding on how this ecosystem operates, in order to protect the great biodiversity of Abrolhos and it's value to society (http://laps.io.usp.br/index.php/90-portugues/laps/projetos/155-proabrolhos).

To spend one month on board of the old oceanographic ship Prof. Besnard was quite the adventure (it has finally been retired – now the oceanographic institute has a new ship), but all worked out. Our results were published in the following years (2009 to 2013), but I decided to go back to Europe before that. How come?! Wasn't that a dream come true??

Yeah, well, looking back, I can sense I lacked some faith. But also, maybe I needed to be around my own people, culture, and family to get the faith to keep on studying the oceans of the world. Unfortunately, life in science is filled with uncertainties and short work contracts (1 year). At the same time, scientific realizations take years. To write a project, get funding, execute it, analyze the results, and communicate that new knowledge all happens in 5-10 years’ time.

Back from Brazil, it took me another 4 years of coming and going between France, Brazil (I fell in love), and Germany for me to finally get a position as a teacher in the Faculty of Biology of Munich in 2012, when I was 40. I live near my parents' house, and I am teaching zoology, ecology, and scientific initiation to undergrad and grad students. For the first time, I know where I will work, live, and study the ocean, until at least 2020, when the future may take me down another path.

I had few preconceived ideas before coming to Brazil. I like living in other countries. I usually try, at first, to observe and go with the flow. I discovered the “Brazilian way” of doing things, the São Paulo coldness, and I learned how to dance forró. I thought – still do – that all of the people around me were very dedicated to work, friends and family. The most important thing I learned in Brazil? That sometimes things may take a while, but all works out in the end!

In Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

About Sabine:

Sabine Schultes likes to see herself as biologist and oceanographer. She studied biology and hydrobiology in the Hamburg faculty, defended her masters in oceanography at the Université du Québec Rimouski, Canada and her doctorate at Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Bremerhaven. After some post-doctoral contracts in France and Brazil, she is now a teacher at the Munich Faculty (LMU), teaching zoology and ecology. She says that her parents taught her how to look for new paths and to socialize with people and cultures around the world. She is convinced that today, more than ever, we need to take care of our oceans.  

Sabine has also published:
http://chatwithneptune.blogspot.com.br/2016/09/sun-protection-cosmetics-good-for-you.html

Finding self-confidence as a woman in science

By Deborah Apgaua

In 2016 this year I received an international award that changed my life and perspectives about many aspects on science. This award was granted by the Schlumberger Foundation under their Faculty of the Future program, and is intended for women from developing countries to conduct research in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The program aims to form a transformative network where men and women have similar opportunities in the job market.

Illustrated by Caia Colla

To be a woman in science is still a challenge, especially in a developing country like Brazil, where the biggest portion of professors in STEM are men, and where gender imbalance is evident in leading positions. According to a post already published in this blog (o sexo realmente importa?), it may help to reverse this scenario by accepting that this gender imbalance exists, but this has still not happened. Even more importantly, an increase in self-confidence in women could help to break this barrier towards a greater female participation in STEM.

The possibility of pursuing post-doctoral research overseas is of course an important component of the satisfaction that I feel after winning the award. To be part of the Faculty for the Future community that searches for new directions for science enhanced my self-confidence to develop research and to become a role model to inspire other women to follow a similar path. Therefore, way before I started my research, I already felt a big change in the way I expressed my ideas and guide students in their work.

When I decided to try this program, I had to remember and mentally organize my entire academic carrier from my undergrad to my doctorate. I had to search for value in each experience and think about how these experiences can help me inspire other women. Thus, I discovered a new force that was inside me, something that I did not know. Before submitting the proposal for my research, I reread it and felt fulfilled, regardless of the application results. I asked myself how many women could feel this contentment if they remembered each step of their journey and add value to their work.

For example, I realized that I have more teaching experience than I was aware. During my undergrad, I developed research in traditional communities where I participated in giving short courses and presenting user-end research outcomes.  Besides this, during my postgrad I had acquired experience through teaching placements, and this counts as teaching experience even if it was with the assistance of my supervisor. While doing part of my doctorate studies overseas, I kept in touch with my work mates back in Brazil, and helped in reviewing academic texts. Therefore, I could see the relevance of all those moments when I had to convince the Schlumberger Foundation that I am a candidate that deserves the award.

To believe in this reality without diminishing myself, but on the contrary, finding merit in my academic choices, I did not worry about what I could have done but I didn’t. When I was interviewed in English with the intention to confirm what I wrote, I did not present myself as a “serious and baddie” person trying to show a masculine stereotype to express power. On the contrary, I was friendly and feminine finding confidence being myself.

When I received the positive results on my proposal, the “insecure girl that could not express her scientific ideas because she did not believe it was relevant” disappeared. As I resonate with the philosophy of the Faculty for the Future program, I decided to accept the mission to engage and encourage more women in science. I have chosen to embrace the strong woman that was sleeping inside me and see myself as a scientist that searches for even more experiences knowing that I still have a lot to learn.

Since that moment, with my self-confidence renewed, I have talked to women in my university and from other institutions and I see their countenance changing as I point to the possibility of a simple path to achieve their goals. The change is inside us, because many times we boycott ourselves, with insecurity and low self-esteem. Focus and self-confidence are the key ingredients for our transformation.

Talking with female post-grad students in my department, I noticed that some of them are afraid to become a “shadow” of their male counterparts.  Perhaps this is a result of a predominantly male work environment where only three out of 31 professors are women. However, this is a fear that freezes, and it is only by acting on our academic goals that we can be free from this self-perceived subordination. So when we overcome the insecurity and fear of being overshadowed by men in science, we are on our paths of knowledge that will bring us to academic success.

Overcoming our insecurities and fears is also facilitated when we understand that we do not do science alone and that working together with others is essential. This way, we can transform competition to collaboration, and not have to feel that we are alone in our academic endeavors at every step of our work. Scientific knowledge is an ever-expanding thing.  Men or women alike, trusting that science moves forward by our combined efforts reduces our ego and dispels the perceived ideal that we have to know everything to be able to do good science.

Relevant Links:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Deborah_Apgaua

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0130799

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12787/abstract

http://www.ufla.br/ascom/2016/09/06/estudante-da-ufla-e-contemplada-com-premio-internacional/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deUQFTSX0EY

About Deborah:

I am a doctor in forest ecology, and I have a deep love for the world’s tropical forests. I have graduated in biology during which I studied ethnobiology. During my masters and PhD I worked with forest ecology to be in contact with Brazilian forests. During my Ph.D however, I ended up going to Australia where I developed a project with plant functional traits in rainforest plants. More recently, I am preparing to go back to Australia again to pursue a post-doc, supported by an award that I received for women in science. I aim to understand how plants cope with drought through their traits and bring this knowledge to Brazil. I hope to inspire other women to pursue the academic career.