Posted on by Joey Hulbert

#CitizenScience: Research Experiences to Inspire Passion

Was there a defining moment that led you to choose your career? How did you decide what you wanted to be when you grew up? Did inspiration precede passion, for you?

The more you learn about something, the more interested you become— a romantic marvel; don’t you agree? ‘You never know where life will lead you’ because you don’t know what you haven’t learned.

How did you get here (to browsing this blog?!)?

I chose my career path because I experienced research at a young age. I was fortunate to have the opportunity because my father is an academic and I spent many summers crossing his maize plants in an experimental research field. I feel fortunate to have had that experience. Although, I wouldn’t call it ‘inspiring’—often working in the middle of a field in near 40-degree heat in Kansas, the center of the USA (as a teenager, I should add!)— but the experience provided the recognition that research is a means to make a positive impact on the planet (and in that experience: control maize diseases!).

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Research is critical; especially agricultural research, because feeding the world is undeniably important. Even more so when faced with big challenges from global trends such as climate-change-driven droughts and the continual increase in invasive species introductions.

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What are the aspirations of youth in South Africa? Does today’s youth want to science? Do they want to help feed Africa’s growing population? Do they want to research climate change? The climate is changing and our current lifestyles are drying out. FABI just contributed 2000 liters of water to Operation Hydrate. What is this phenomenon, the “El Niño Southern Oscillation”? Do children care? Would you have cared if we weren’t experiencing a historically powerful drought? Do our children believe they can do something to make a difference?

Every research project centered on climate change will help us adapt to our changing world.

But how do we inspire youth to pursue scientific careers dedicated to solving environmental and ecological problems? Without investing resources and inspiring interest in such careers, our grandchildren will not have the same opportunities to enjoy and benefit from the earth’s natural and agricultural systems.

InspirePassion.jpg Taking from my own story: I was given the opportunity to participate in research at a young age, inspiring an interest that blossomed into a passion, ultimately bringing me to the beautiful rainbow nation, South Africa.

I want to provide similar opportunities to young learners. So with support from FABI and the University of Pretoria, we have initiated a citizen science project to engage as many youth as we can in our research.

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Citizen Science is a term for research that engages non-scientists, ranging from young learners to retirees and tourists to local professionals. In a sense, citizen science is a tool that can be used to aid research while engaging and inspiring society.

 

CapeCitSciLogoCape Citizen Science is a project to engage the public in research about plant disease in the fynbos biome of the Western Cape Province. Along with conducting research to help conserve South Africa’s biodiversity, the project will provide unique learning opportunities for South African citizens about ecological processes in the fynbos, the importance of biodiversity, the effects of invasive species, and microorganisms as the causal agents of disease. More information about our project can be found at: http://citsci.co.za.

Citizen science projects provide opportunities to participate in research, engaging the public to inspire a passion for scientific discovery.

There are many ongoing citizen science projects out there, just type #citizenscience on twitter to discover more.

Feel free to contact me for more information about our project, to schedule a presentation or a workshop. You can  reach me at joey.hulbert@fabi.up.ac.za.  I also encourage you to follow this blog for updates about the project and our methods to engage youth in science.

Posted on by ScientistSim

Viruses: Their tiny dictatorship and why I love them

We may have surpassed the age where scientists said the flu is caused by “mysterious somethings”, but we are still very much in the dark about viruses. Virologists are even torn when it comes to knowing if they are alive. At the very least, viruses are shortcuts on the principle of life itself. While the rest of life is scrambling to evolve complex mechanisms, viruses are the couch potatoes of micro-organisms. Essentially they are just Netflixing their way through series in their sweatpants while the world around them runs the Comrades. Then, instead of putting on the pounds, they end up winning an Olympic gold for marathon running and everyone else is left a bit bewildered. They compete, they attack, they overthrow and they invade. They are the Hitlers, Mussolinis and Idi Amins of the immune system – but unlike their human counterparts, I love them.

I was 14 when my love affair with these tiny parasites started. I was (and am still) small for my age — perhaps that is why I found a kinship with them. They are in the smallest of packages and have managed to jump across species, dominate lifeforms and cause havoc without lugging around any of their own cellular machinery. HIV impressively hijacks the very system that is there to destroy it, Ebola can hide its cell surface proteins to avoid detection, and influenza forces cells to burst to enhance viral release. I appreciate the skill with which they shrewdly take command, often under the radar of our supposedly complex but largely unprepared cells. Another feature that sets viruses apart from their microbial brethren is how quickly they can adapt. Viruses that consist of nothing more than a bit of DNA or RNA wrapped in protein can change dramatically within a couple of hours, whereas bacteria have a far slower mutation rate. It is their simplicity that gives them power that very few complex systems can counteract.

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Read more about complexity versus success here.

A virus doesn’t necessarily achieve anything by killing its host – that could lead to its untimely destruction. Ultimately, self-interest just requires simple transmission and replication. Often a virus enters a host benignly with no visible symptoms and while it may kill a few cells, it does so with limited destruction. In a reservoir host, the host that the virus originated in, there is a truce; a sort of dictator parlay. In these situations the virus ‘rents’ the space and the space doesn’t complain (sort of like Donald Trump in the Republican party). When the virus makes a move and spills over into a new host, though, all bets are off (i.e. Donald Trump becoming president of the USA). HIV, Ebola, Marburg, swine flu and yellow fever are just a few examples of successful plagues (or, zoonoses) that have made the evolutionary leap and caused massive damage in doing so. Like a horror movie they are so intriguing, I can’t stop watching them through my fingers.

As I speak with admiration for them, it may seem counter-intuitive that I spend my days growing them, giving them some host cells and then finding cruel and unusual ways to kill them. This is the first lesson about medial science: know your enemy, appreciate them, truly have passion for them. Scientist need to be devil’s advocates, always balancing disdain with adoration. In this way you will find creative answers to hard questions. You can get a PhD that really means something.  In my case, knowing what I’m up against is what will always keep me a few replication cycles ahead. I constantly marvel at what nature has to throw at us and I hope this will make me a good virologist: over-thrower of dictators!

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