ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Bethany Williams is an author on ‘ Alteration of reproductive behaviors by aromatase inhibition is population dependent in an African cichlid fish’, published in JEB. Bethany conducted the research described in this article while a PhD Student in Suzanne Gray and Lauren Pintor's lab at The Ohio State University, USA. Bethany now has a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology in the lab of Michael Tobler at University of Missouri-St Louis, USA, investigating how animals evolve to survive in extreme environments and how they respond to multiple environmental stressors.
Bethany Williams
How did you become interested in biology?
In hindsight, my career as a biologist seems inevitable given my childhood obsession with all things related to animals. All my favorite shows were on Animal Planet. My sister and I had binders full of that animal encyclopedia you got in the mail each month. I spent lots of happy moments outdoors with my girl scout troop hiking in the woods. As a kid, I thought it would be so cool to explore and learn about the world like the people I saw on television. I saw biology as a real career path though when I had the opportunity to take a Marine Biology course during high school that took us to the Florida Keys for a week. Needless to say, I was hooked.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
During my first semester as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA, I worked in the lab of Dr Amanda Williard. There, I got to traipse through the woods to monitor the driftnets for reptiles and amphibians, and helped with animal husbandry in the lab. I also conducted my own Honor's project studying the effect of temperature on anaerobic metabolism in yellow bellied sliders. From there, I went to Miami University, USA, to study the physiology of freeze tolerance in wood frogs with Dr Jon Costanzo. After that, I did my PhD at the Ohio State University with Dr Suzanne Gray and Dr Lauren Pintor, where I studied the effects of hypoxia and turbidity on cichlid reproduction. During this time, I had the incredible opportunity to work for three summers in Uganda. This is also when I really started thinking about the concept of multiple stressors, which led to my current position as a NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology. In collaboration with my postdoc advisor Dr Michi Tobler, I am studying the evolution of multiple stressor tolerance in poeciliids that survive in streams that are both sulfidic and hypoxic.
How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?
Hormones help organisms respond to their environment, but they can also be affected in turn by changes to the environment. Low oxygen is an example of a factor that can alter hormone production, which can then lead to changes in behavior. In this study, we looked at how inhibition of an enzyme (the aromatase enzyme) associated with reproductive hormones affects reproductive behavior in an African cichlid fish. However, because some species or populations naturally survive in environments with low oxygen and could be adapted to the inhibition of this enzyme, we also compared the responses between swamp fish where oxygen is low, and river fish where oxygen is high. We found that river males performed fewer courtship and competitive behaviors under the inhibition treatment while the behavior of swamp males was unaffected. Overall, these results suggest that the effects of hormone inhibition on behavior could depend on whether the populations are adapted to low oxygen or not.
What do you enjoy most about research, and why?
Research has been rewarding in so many ways. I get to spend my days thinking about important questions and how to answer them. It's a job that requires precision and careful planning, but also creativity. I've had so many unbelievable opportunities due to my research. I've done field work in stunning sites like Alaska, Uganda, Mexico and Costa Rica. I've presented my research internationally to my peers in sunny Montpellier, France. I have also met so many incredible people across the country and internationally as part of my research.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to keep busy when I'm not in the lab! I really enjoy running, and I'm almost always in marathon training (including now). During graduate school, I also started learning how to ride horses. I rode for a little while as a kid but had basically forgotten everything I ever knew. So, I have been having a lot of fun learning how to jump as an adult. Both of these sports give me the opportunity to spend time in the fresh air with friends, and what could be better than that?
What's next for you?
I am halfway through my postdoctoral fellowship which means I will be officially entering the job market this fall for an academic position! After completing my postdoctoral position, I would like to lead my own integrative research lab that draws upon physiological, behavioral and genetic data to understand how organisms survive in and adapt to multiple stressor environments.
Bethany Williams’s contact details: Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St Louis, St Louis, MO 63121, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
