STEM Spotlight: Jarildy L. Javier
We've got brains on the brain today because we have brilliant brainiac Jarildy Javier on the blog! Jarildy is a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Emory, and she also has a BA in biology from Colby College. Jarildy recently completed a post-bac program at Northwestern where she worked on some eye-opening research about how vision works. Jarildy's cool combination of ecology background and neuroscience specialization leads to some brain-meltingly cool research. Jarildy is studying the relationships between evolution, neurobiology, animal behaviors, and ecosystems, which makes us want to say "whoa" in the best possible way. Meet the mind-blowingly awesome Jarildy L. Javier!
When did you know you were a scientist?
Even though I started doing science research at the beginning of undergrad, it wasn’t till midway through my postbac that I started saying I was a scientist out loud. My lab mate and I were chatting about not feeling legit as scientists, and I started hyping her up. “Don’t you do experiments? Come up with new scientific ideas? Execute said ideas? So…what it sounds like is that you’re a scientist. Period!” And then she flipped that on me – and I can’t refute my own logic, haha.
To be honest though, the transition from “I like science and do research” to “I am a scientist” is always one full of lots of doubt and need for validation. For me, that doubt has to do with imposter syndrome, feeling like I need a title to back up my scientist claim, and an expectation of feeling like I got this when I make the transition. However, if we are talking about facts, imposter syndrome can be overcome, I don’t need a title to state a fact, and I don’t think anyone ever feels like they truly have anything all the time. So now whenever the opportunity arises to say I am a scientist, I affirm myself and my hard work by saying so. (It also helps to have supportive friends – shout out Kayla and Saaji.)
What inspired your transition from ecology to neuroscience?
I made the decision to switch fields my senior year at Colby College. I had really focused on ecology in my research and courses but had become increasingly frustrated by the limited specificity of the questions I could ask. After taking an animal behavior course with Dr. Catherine Bevier I realized I wanted to know more about the biological basis of behavior. How do birds learn new songs? How does a bat navigate so well? And, ultimately, how do brains and behaviors compare across species?
At the same time, I was working in Dr. Melissa Glenn’s behavioral neuroscience lab as an excited research assistant. Dr. Glenn gave me the chance to work in her lab despite my very different background because she saw how excited and committed I was to research. This lab experience allowed me a VIP view into the world of neuroscience, and I haven’t looked back since.
Do you have a favorite brain science fact you like to dazzle people with?
Not so much a fact but a galaxy brain meme moment. I worked in Dr. Tiffany Schmidt’s vision neuroscience lab for my postbac. In the eye, we have neurons that send signals to the brain. You can isolate these neurons (called retinal ganglion cells) and record electrical pulses from them. If you show a video of black and white bars going across a screen to one of these cells, it will react, and you can see and record the electrical pulses in real time.
That means that in our eyes, we have cells that EACH see things. So, our eye is made up of other eyes... *brain explosion*
What was the coolest/most rewarding aspect of participating in #BlackInNeuro week on Twitter?
WOW, I have to pick just one?!
It would definitely have to be seeing the sheer volume of Black neuroscientists that exist and the expansive identities we all occupy. I had not met so many Black scientists at once, and it was beautiful to see everyone during roll call and throughout the week. I was stanning everyone so hard, because what else is there to do when faced with brilliance?
Not only was that amazing, but the support from Black scientists of other disciplines and the allies I met, it all made me so happy. The #BlackInNeuro team did such an amazing job of organizing the week, making sure everyone had something they could do to participate and interacting with *everyone*. I definitely have some stellar role models on Twitter now and I am so thankful.
What research/new developments in the field of neuroscience/animal behavior fascinate you most right now?
For general neuro, I have been seen a lot of cool research on the gut-brain axis! The gut-brain axis is basically the communication and interaction of your brain and your intestinal functions aka what your gut does. You might have heard of the gut microbiome, all the bacteria in our gut that can help us stay healthy. Researchers have found connections between the types of bacteria in our gut and our emotional and cognitive functions. Neuroscientists and gastroenterologists are trying to understand how the brain in our gut and the brain in our head talk to each other and what they talk about. It is pretty cool!
In terms of fascination, I have been really into non-model organisms lately, or at least the less popular ones! I think that with the awesome advances in technology in microscopy, optogenetics and sequencing it is going to become easier to expand our understanding of behavior away from our typical models. With these other organisms we can ask questions about behavior development and control across non-lab species and connect that to evolution of brain circuitry.
I have also been seeing more people interested in the chemical senses like smell and taste. I think the chemical senses need more love! There is so much we don’t know – someone get on that!
What advice do you have for young people who want to study neuroscience?
First off, you got this!
Second, do your best to secure a research opportunity. You can like a subject a lot, but then once it becomes your everyday, you realize maybe it is not for you (I am looking at you, physics). Research also helps you understand how to think like a research scientist like how to be practical, utilize resources and see opportunities for a good project. This practice never ends, so start early.
Third, don’t overly commit to one thing in neuro. Neuroscience is awesome because it is wildly expansive. We have people at the annual Neuroscience conference from all the fields, in STEM and humanities. Be open minded about what you research, and you might find something you like even more than your original plan.
Lastly, learn coding if you can. Just about everyone uses a bit of coding for data analysis, making attractive figures, and having a basis to understand computational neuroscience. I think Python is pretty intuitive and there are tons of free online resources to learn, and small projects you can look up to practice. It will *definitely* give you larger access to cool projects and labs.
P.S. This is not neuro specific but get you at least one mentor. Even if your mentor is not in your specific area of neuro, it is unbelievably helpful to have someone who knows the ropes. From fellowships to opportunities to connections, build that social capital and supportive network.
Do you have any favorite scientist(s) from history or art/fiction?
Ms. Frizzle on the Magic School Bus — because she got me excited about science and made me think that science could be fun.
Sir David Attenborough — he is the reason I became fascinated with animals and also my aspiration to one day narrate a science doc.
Shuri from Black Panther — I mean who doesn’t want to be this cool of an inventor? She is the backbone of Wakanda.
Any scientist part of the Black(in)_____ teams – because they have done so much work to make sure we know we are not alone and give examples of people *thriving* in STEM.
If you were a superhero, what would your go-to wearable technology device be?
I want to say Iron Man’s suit because it is great for someone who doesn’t know how to fight evil villain enemies on their own (aka me) and got 1001 fancy capabilities…but Black Panther’s Suit is much more fashion forward and can constantly be updated by Shuri… so if Shuri is there to update the suit to fit what I need, its gonna have to be Black Panther’s suit for me!
To learn more about Jarildy L. Javier, follow her on Twitter and check out her LinkedIn page!