ECR Spotlight – Emma Flatt Free

Emma Flatt

How did you become interested in biology?

I grew up in Barbados where summers spent wandering the beach and exploring the coral reefs were commonplace. One of my best memories is a night spent at a beach house with my family when suddenly I felt something crawling over my foot. When I looked down, I came face to face with a turtle hatchling! I only needed look a little more to realize that there were about a hundred or more of them that had hatched earlier in the night than usual and were attracted to the house lights. It was an amazing experience to gather these hatchlings and go to the shore to release them and watch them make their way to the sea. Other memories of my summers as a kid include catching sand crabs (Hippa cubensis, referred to as sea cockroaches by Barbadians) in the surf with my cousins, searching for sand dollars, sea cucumbers or starfish in tide pools, as well as picking up sea urchins and being curious about how they managed to move each individual spine. If that was not enough, my curiosity for nature was further encouraged by my dad. From helping me catch caterpillars so I could watch them metamorphose in my first bug jar, to telling me to ask Santa for an aquarium when I was 7 years old, to gifting me with encyclopedias for every major animal group. Between my environment and my parents' love of nature and animals, I honestly think it would have been more unusual to not grow interested in biology.

Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus

I enrolled at the University of Guelph in 2017, where I completed my BSc (Honours) in zoology and then my MSc in integrative biology. When I initially started, I was set on the idea of becoming a veterinarian but a 3rd year course in comparative animal physiology completely changed my plans. Dr Sarah Alderman's passion and enthusiasm for teaching physiology, and the positive impact it had on me as her student, cannot be overstated. She is a perfect example of how a good teacher can totally change the course of a student's life. I so thoroughly enjoyed this course that I decided to reach out to Sarah about opportunities in her lab for an undergraduate thesis. For my undergraduate project, we investigated the regulation of Hsd11b2 in the adult zebrafish brain, and its potential to mediate the context-specific effects of stress on brain cell proliferation. My first experiment immediately sparked my passion for research and stress biology, so when the opportunity to expand this project as an MSc student was proposed, it was a no brainer. Throughout my MSc, I was privileged to work not only with a fantastic supervisor but also with great lab mates. My exposure to conferences such as the Canadian Society of Zoologists (CSZ) meeting along with my own volunteer work in scientific communication such as Let's Talk Science only further solidified that I was on the right career path. After finishing my MSc, I started my PhD in zoology at the University of British Columbia, Canada, with Dr Patricia Schulte in January 2024. Here, I am continuing to pursue my interest in comparative stress physiology by studying the response of fish to environmental stressors via the endocrine system. I will be looking at how local adaptation and development can shape hormone plasticity, and how it affects their performance.

How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?

We know that fish brains are incredibly plastic and can make new neurons throughout their life. We also know that stress can affect this process. I wanted to understand why sometimes stress increases new neuron production and other times it slows it down. We are aware of an enzyme known as 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (Hsd11b2) that is expressed at very high levels in the fish brain. This enzyme can inactive cortisol (the primary stress hormone of fish), suggesting that it could have a role in determining how stress affects the brain. In my paper, we exposed zebrafish to acute and chronic stress so that we could examine the response of Hsd11b2 in the brain during stress. We found that Hsd11b2 was stimulated by acute and repeated acute stress but was unchanged by chronic stress. With acute stress, an increase in new brain cells was observed followed by an increase in Hsd11b2, but with repeated acute stress, there were no additional increases in brain cell production. This suggests that increased Hsd11b2 during repeated acute stress may increase the inactivation of cortisol, preventing any further increase in brain cell production. In addition, the lack of a Hsd11b2 response under chronic stress may reduce cortisol inactivation, allowing cortisol to decrease brain cell production. In addition to these Hsd11b2-related mechanisms, we also observed changes in the expression of the receptors that bind cortisol in response to stress. This suggests that, in addition to changes in Hsd11b2, changes in receptor abundance may be another pathway that determines how stress affects brain cell production. Altogether, the results of my paper suggest that different types of stressors cause specific changes in Hsd11b2, and that this may regulate changes in brain cell production in response to stress. Studies like this, that increase our understanding of these pathways, can provide unique insight into novel treatments for stress-related brain disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Why did you choose JEB to publish your paper?

As an ECR, I wanted my first publication to act as my introduction to the scientific community in such a way that would display my mechanism-oriented research goals and align with my passion for scientific communication. JEB appealed to me, as my paper fitted well into the scope of the journal, and I knew that it would appeal to JEB's readership; specifically, those interested in neuroendocrinology and other interdisciplinary scientists. I also greatly appreciate that JEB takes every opportunity to support ECRs such as providing travel grants and allowing ECRs to improve their scientific communication skills through preLights. JEB's open access policies also align with my values as a new scientist, regarding the accessibility and transparency of research.

What is your favourite animal, and why?

My favourite animal is the groundhog (Marmota monax). I am afraid that my reasoning for groundhogs being my favourite animal is honestly rather simple and does not come down to some cool or bizarre factoid. I just associate groundhogs with good friends and good memories made during my time at the University of Guelph. The residence of groundhog families at the university is well known by those who have attended and awaiting the first groundhog pup sighting at the start of every spring became a regular tradition between my lab members and myself. We often sighted them when making our way to the aquatic facility and a family of them made their home right outside the Summerlee Science Complex where our lab was. So, on many days our group chats involved sending pictures of them at their cutest moments, one of which includes a picture of two of them hugging (or maybe fighting but I choose to believe hugging). I think it was a fun way to remove some of the pressures of graduate school and soon I just started to associate groundhogs with great times spent with friends and as a connection to where my scientific journey began, so at some point sighting a groundhog became an instant cure to any bad day.

What is the most important lesson that you have learned from your career so far?

When opportunities appear, just say yes. I think that especially early in your career and perhaps also as a woman in science, it is so easy to doubt your abilities, to think that you are not yet at the level where you can apply for that scholarship, collaborate with that lab, or take part in that organization. It is rarely if ever true; it is so important to trust yourself and I think this stands true both in my career as a researcher and in my personal life. I have learned to not only assume the best in other people but also assume the best in myself. There is no need to stop yourself before you even try; some of the best advice I ever received was ‘allow other people to say no to you’ and ‘sometimes you just need to have the audacity’. The way I take that is that you need to believe in yourself more than others, assume you have the qualifications, and if someone says no then so be it. It is not something to be afraid of and, in my experience, you will be surprised by how often you hear yes.

What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I really enjoy art such as drawing and painting, and I even recently started taking pottery classes. I really like working with mixed media and have a particular fondness for creating animal illustrations, no surprise there. In fact, decorating my lab books has become a fun tradition of mine and illustrations of my model animals are often the most notable feature. I also really enjoy cooking and baking and find myself fusing traditional Caribbean recipes with Canadian cuisine with often delicious results if I say so myself.