Curiosity is a family trait. I grew up with grandparents leading hordes of kidlets on beach adventures to tickle anemones, and parents countering the litany of “But why?” queries with “Let’s find out!” experiments. Science was inevitable. The only question was what type of science would it be?
I work with disasters because it’s somewhere that science and communication are equally important. We can’t completely prevent disasters, but we can mitigate their impact through understanding how they happen and changing our behaviours.
I’m a freelance scientist, working a mix of contracts in disaster research, geophysics fieldwork, scifi consulting, and science communication. It’s the essence of a nonlinear career path in the gig economy, finding ways to do science outside the standard paths of academics or industry.
Science happens in our world every where, every day. It’s not confined to laboratories and neatly outlined in peer-reviewed papers. Being a scientist is a framework for viewing the world, and can apply to many more career paths than those talked about in grad school seminars.
No one wants to die an unnecessary death.
I volunteer with a disaster response agency (North Shore Emergency Management @NorthShoreEMO).
I mentor with local women’s science groups, most commonly Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at local universities.
I like to make things. Spinning yarn, homebrewing beer, refurbishing engines, or inventing cookie recipes: if it involves physically creating things, I’m game to try it.
A surprising number of my hobbies have evolved into jobs over time, with expertise built up recreationally now being applied in a professional setting. It turns out that watching an obsessive number of procedural TV series is shockingly good preparation for the inversion mathematics of geophysics and piecing together geological formation histories! Similarly, quantitative pet care with little hedgehog has evolved into a form of science outreach through spiky adorability. Freelancers don’t get weekends. It’s like grad school, but without an end and no earning pretty letters after our names.
Please welcome Mika to Real Scientists!