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. Stephanie Adamczak is an author on ‘ Integrating animal tracking and trait data to facilitate global ecological discoveries’, published in JEB. Stephanie is a postdoc in the lab of Roxanne Beltran and Marm Kilpatrick at the University of California Santa Cruz, investigating the link between individual variability and fitness to better understand how individual traits can have lasting impacts on population demography. Stephanie's current research focuses on individual variability in body size.
Stephanie Adamczak
How did you become interested in biology?
My interest in biology as a career path began as an undergraduate student at Gettysburg College, USA. I was lucky enough to get hands-on field experience working in tidal flats on the mid-Atlantic coast of North America and lab experience studying the aquatic ecotoxicology of mud snails. These research opportunities demonstrated how exciting independent research could be. I enjoyed each part of the process, from conducting field work, to rearing snails in a lab, and even conducting stats and writing up the results. These experiences made it evident that I enjoyed the process of science and could explore science as a career option.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
My scientific journey began as an undergraduate student conducting aquatic ecotoxicology research with Dr Peter Fong at Gettysburg College. I then chose to do independent research exploring the impact of conservation interventions on a resident population of dolphins while studying in Australia. These experiences highlighted how much I enjoyed research and led me to pursue a master's degree at Stony Brook University, USA, with Dr Lesley Thorne and then a PhD at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) with Dr Dan Costa. Both my master's and PhD research combined basic science and discovery with applied science to improve conservation and management of marine mammal populations. I recently finished my PhD and am currently a postdoc at UCSC with Dr Roxanne Beltran, where I continue to balance basic and applied science. My current research focuses on how individual variability in traits can impact fitness, and how these individual traits can trickle-up and impact population trends. My postdoc research focuses specifically on how individual variability in body size can influence reproduction, survival and foraging success.
How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?
This research highlights the importance of combining data from trait databases with data from animal movement databases to answer a new suite of biological questions. The suite of publicly available biological data continues to grow, and with this, our ability to ask more interesting research questions also grows. However, these data sources are often disparate entities, and it's challenging to combine information from multiple data sources into one, cohesive dataset. We aimed to highlight the potential functionality of combining data from multiple large, publicly available datasets and to provide an overview of the types of interesting biological and ecological questions we could address with these combined data sources.
An elephant seal female at Año Nuevo State Park pokes her head out of a harem of breeding females. Photo credit: Dan Costa (NMFS Permit Number 23188).
What do you enjoy most about research, and why?
I think that the best part about research is discovering new information, no matter how big or small the findings may be. Anytime we conduct research we are uncovering more information about how our world works, which better equips us to create, innovate and, ultimately, improve our surroundings. I feel that researchers across disciplines share a common interest in uncovering and discovering more about the world around us, ultimately pushing science and society forward, and this is what makes research exciting and engaging to me.
What is the most important lesson that you have learned from your career so far
The most important lesson I've learned from my career is to be tenacious. Research and science can be challenging and even discouraging at times. I've had numerous research projects fail before finding that I just needed to shift my focus, or adapt to the new findings and move away from the story I originally wanted to tell. Ultimately, these experiences helped me realize that not everything will work in the way you expected, but there are always solutions and answers if you keep working on the problem.
Do you have a top tip for others just starting out at your career stage?
As a fairly new postdoc, I am still learning to navigate this new career stage. However, throughout this process I have learned the true value in connecting with others for support, whether they are in a similar position or a similar career stage. Relying on your community for advice, tips and general support can be an invaluable resource when starting in a new position or at a new location, and I like to think that this advice spans career stages.
Stephanie Adamczak's contact details: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
