Why Stevie Nicks inspires me – a female biologist.

I’m not sure when it was that I fell in love with the chanteuse Stevie Nicks but it certainly was at least in high school when I first heard the moving song ‘Dreams’.  Stevie is but one magnificent part of the musical tapestry that makes up this beautiful song.  The composition of this and other songs by Fleetwood Mac is haunting and somehow inspiring - and so too is the fairy godmother of female rock stars - Miss Stevie Nicks.

Fairy muse for women in the sciences? 

So why is someone like Stevie Nicks relevant to a blog post on a blog about biology, bats and all things science?  Stevie represents the courageousness, strength and powerhouse attitude required to succeed in the sciences and she does all this as a feminine muse that grasps at the dreams and hearts of most of those who hear her music.  She’s talented - sure - but from everything I’ve read and seen she also works VERY hard.  Indeed – I think that the description often used for James Brown fits – she is ‘the hardest working woman in music!’  But what gets me the most is that she does not force herself into an over sexualized nor into a ‘gotta be a man to succeed in a man’s world’ persona.  And this - has historically been a challenge for women in a variety of fields including academia.

No Miley Cyrus get-ups to grab attention- in fact I'd call this outfit downright graceful and even a little masculine!

An amazing book that touches on the topic but in the context of a WOMAN SCIENTIST is ‘the Molecules of Emotion’ by Dr. Candace Pert.  Which tells the inspirational story of Dr. Pert’s career in the sciences which includes the discovery of opiate receptors, being passed up for a Nobel Prize and what it was like to be a woman in the sciences wearing ‘the uniform’ i.e. looking as unfeminine as possible to ‘blend in’ to the man’s world that academia was at that time.

The late Dr. Candace Pert

To me at least there is as common thread between Dr. Pert’s and Stevie’s stories both were at one time or another in the shadow of someone else- in Dr. Pert's case it was her adviser and for Stevie's it was Lindsay Buckingham.  Stevie started out as one part of the duo ‘Buckingham and Nicks.’  The band was far from a success and Stevie was working as a waitress and considering going back to school.  At her father’s suggestion she decided to ‘give it 6 more months.’  From this emotional place that sounds a lot like the struggles of trying to ‘make it’ in the sciences - Stevie wrote the song Landslide which carries words of wisdom that seem to come from a much older person.  Apparently Landslide was written in my home state of Colorado with the following inspiration:

“I had been a waitress and a cleaning lady, and I didn’t mind any of this. I was perfectly delighted to work and support us so that Lindsey could produce and work and fix our songs and make our music. But I had gotten to a point where it was like, “I’m not happy. I am tired. But I don’t know if we can do any better than this. If nobody likes this, then what are we going to do?”

So during that two months I made a decision to continue. “Landslide” was the decision. it’s the only time in my life that I’ve lived in the snow. But looking up at those Rocky Mountains and going, “Okay, we can do it. I’m sure we can do it.”

Before the 6 months were up the multi-record Brit blues group Fleetwood Mac heard a Buckingham and Nicks recording and contacted Lindsay Buckingham to see if he would join the group.  Lets be clear on this -they wanted Lindsay NOT STEVIE.  Stevie was ‘just the girl’ in a band that she didn’t really interest Fleetwood Mac at the time.  Yes- Lindsay was (and is) a skilled guitarist but boy is it tough to envision not getting goosebumps listening to that voice of Miss Nicks! 

Lindsay in his defense said he would only consider joining Fleetwood Mac if Stevie was going to be added as well.  Maybe he was being a good band-mate, a supportive boyfriend, felt owed it to Stevie as she had been working to support them both while they tried to ‘make it’ or just maybe-just maybe he knew Stevie was going places and it would be a mistake to miss out on her natural talent –who knows.  In any case, the final decision ultimately came down to the other woman in the picture namely the very talented Christine McVie who was ‘the girl’ in Fleetwood Mac.  If she met Stevie and didn’t get along with her then the deal would never happen.  As luck would have it the two were fast friends and the rest is well- a legacy of music that never fails to put me in a good mood or allows me to really feel the way only a good piece of music can.  Take for example the song GYPSY…. I’ve already written about how the post doc life is that of the academic gypsy…. But let these words inspire you in the context of whatever it is you try hardest to achieve:

“Back to the gypsy that I was
- And it all comes down to you
Well, you know that it does
Well, lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice
Ah, and it lights up the night
-To the gypsy that remains faces freedom with a little fear”

Now- most people have heard bits of the story in the midst of their early success with Fleetwood Mac- Stevie and Lindsay broke up- but always the professional she stuck it out- the band was important.  Despite dealing with the end of a relationship that had spanned nearly a decade - surely a trying time - both Stevie and Lindsay put all that into it’s compartment when they went in to work so that they could get on with the job at hand- making beautiful music. And that is what they did.

Fleetwood Mac

Stevie wanted to continue writing songs and creating music but felt she could not contribute as many songs as she would have liked to each Fleetwood Mac album (which makes sense as there were many prolific members all excited to have their music included).  So what did she do?  She made a very diplomatic decision to produce solo albums AND stay in Fleetwood Mac.  How often dear reader does THAT decision pan out for artists?  Usually the band ‘breaks up’ the artist looses their following or both.  I don’t think I can imagine the time commitment and stress this must have taken… Stevie decided in essance to take on TWO music careers.

Perhaps we can get an inkling of what this was like as seems akin to something many people go through as the do graduate studies or academia in general: splitting time between research, taking classes, teaching and what bears some resemblance to a normal ‘life’ outside of one’s career.  Stevie’s dedication to her band mates AND (get this!) herself and her career is inspiring. 

Hard at work.

Now there were repercussions and it was not all roses and lace - Stevie dealt with several addictions: cocaine and painkillers BUT lets go easy on her folks because here is the cool thing - SHE TALKS ABOUT IT.  She has said in interviews she wants others to learn from her mistakes and to be able to avoid them.  All this leads me to respect this woman even more.  She also has dealt with strange rumors of witchcraft, media frenzy over a weight gain and the death of her best friend.  Now I am not sure if others can see where I draw my inspiration from as it relates to perusing a career in the sciences- but I sure hope you can.  I think seeing the human side of someone in the public eye and knowing their struggles (to some degree) and their very active decision to push on, work hard and handle struggles with thought, poise and grace puts things in perspective and it doesn’t hurt that this story comes with an excellent soundtrack.

So- young scientists out there - men and women: learn from your mentors- ask them of their mistakes and successes be inspired or warned and proceed with a fire in your gut because you will need that fire on those days when you’ve had too little sleep and are four days behind on twenty plus things. 

For all you mentors out there- stay human.  That is all we have at the end of the day.  It comes down to how hard we try, the sacrifices we make, those we don’t make, the mistakes we fess to and (here is the big one): our love/dedication for what we do.

All this I learned from my very own fairy godmother who’s haunting voice inspires me to stay whimsical even in a tough as nails profession.  She inspires me to stick to it- tackle the task at hand, to take risks and to work damned hard…even if you are ‘just the girl.' 

More from the heart lyrics from the above song Leather and Lace:

"You're saying I'm fragile
I try not to be
I search only
For something
I can't see -I have my own life
And I am stronger
Than you know"

 

More about Dr. Pert’s excellent book which I highly recommend. 

“From Library Journal

Intrigue at the "Palace": back-stabbing, deceit, shunning, love affairs. This is not the plot to I, Claudius but the account Pert gives of her time working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a.k.a. the Palace. Yet her time at NIH is not the central point here. Nor are the molecules of the title, although they do get due coverage. Pert offers mainly an account of her journey from a conventional scientist to one who also embraces complementary and alternative medicine. The journey is long and not without price. She was passed over for the Lasker and Nobel prizes for her work on opiate receptors while colleagues were recognized; she believes that her development of a potential AIDS drug was thwarted owing to scientific dirty pool as well as her being a woman in a man's world. Along the way, she took control of her career, her life, and her personal mission. This is an eye-opening book for anyone who thinks that people with medical degrees act more civil or are more altruistic than the rest of us, though Pert also shows that some do rise above the fray. Recommended for academic and special libraries.?Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Pert, a self-described ``catalyst in the mindbodyspirit revolution in modern medical science,'' and once a chief of brain chemistry at the NIH, freely intermingles vibrant stories of her professional and personal life with her theories about neuropeptides. Currently a research professor at Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, Pert may be best known as one of the scientists on Bill Moyers's PBS series Healing and the Mind. In the early 1970s, she made a name for herself with her key role in discovering the brain's opiate receptors. For the next decade, however, owing to her protests over her exclusion from the prestigious Lasker Award, her reputation among scientists was more that of feminist troublemaker than pathfinder. Certainly the picture she draws here of the science establishment would seem to suggest a world of aggressive, even ruthless, alpha males fighting for the top prize. She also traces her own evolution from competitive bench scientist to explorer of personal healing modalities. The death of her father, the end of her marriage, her resignation from the NIH, her embracing of the Christian faith, and her discovery of the healing power of dreams--all were, she says, life-shaping events. Pert also explains her theory that neuropeptides and their receptors are the biochemicals of emotions, carrying information in a vast network linking the material world of molecules with the nonmaterial world of the psyche. Her views on mind-body cellular communication mesh well with the concepts of energy held by many alternative therapies, and she is now, not surprisingly, a popular lecturer on the wellness circuit. Her final chapter describes an eight-part program for a healthy lifestyle, and she has appended an extensive list of alternative medicine resources. Strong scientific support for the mind-body school of medicine, sure to rankle those alpha males back in the labs. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.“

sometimes like Bilbo Baggin's “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

Phew.  Sometimes things can be a bit hectic.   
The academic life is not always a slow or stationary one.

This has been the year of travel.  After a cross country (re- CA to MA) move my postdoc started with getting stranded due to a storm for an extra week at the 2012 bat meeting which was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico- and I am not sure if I've fully 'settled in since then.

It has been in many regards amazing - lots of great field adventures and meetings - such as the 2013 bat meetings in San Jose, Costa Rica earlier this month *the best attended bat meetings yet.* Very cool.  However, with a trip to yet another very exciting meeting hanging over my head it's been hard to settle back in.  Home for two weeks and some quick histology work, talk preparation and grocery shopping does not bode well for fully settling in.  So just as a paper of mine was recently published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology I find myself keeping up with travel-delayed tasks and hopeful that a transatlantic flight will allow me to get those next few papers off!  The skills to travel well -and by that I mean in a manner that bodes well for being productive- I am hoping to improve! 

Perhaps for these reasons today's post is not really about much at all.  In fact today- no bats, no science just a quote or two, some ramblings and a song that I find incredibly pretty. 

Here's to a pending fall, trips near or far and to savoring both the wandering boot heels of the vagabonding postdoc life as well as accepting one's inner hobbit.  

As Bilbo Baggins said it best;
 “...I have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, and uncomfortable things.” 

“I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!” 
(J.R.R. Tolkien)

Enjoy this pretty song from Tegan and Sara the amazing songstress sisters from northern North America- Calgary, Canada. 

and THAT is where the name postdoctoral scholar came from!

PhD comics nails it again!

Here is a gem from Jorge Cham

www.phdcomics.com by Jorge Cham

Postdocs, academic gypsies, hobos, vagabonds?

What is a postdoc really all about?  A wise postdoc here at my current university compared it to being an 'academic gypsy'.  The description fit and stuck in my head and has since turned into a web of thoughts.  What makes the lifestyle of a postdoc so different from a graduate students (beyond the obvious qualifications)? 

To start off let's clarify- in case you don't know: a postdoc is a position you may take upon completing your PhD.  Assuming you plan to continue in academia for example to become a professor (at least in the sciences) it is almost a pre-requisite.  A postdoctoral position is intended to provide you with skills you didn't acquire during your PhD or that you would like to refine.  You conduct research and are paid by a principle investigator, the school or some external funding source.  You work hard, try to publish lots and hopefully enjoy the heck out of it!  That said it can be (is generally) hard work.  You may even be called upon to be the work horse of the lab, a 'lab coordintaor' who is in charge of other students or other activities in the lab.  Most postdocs last about 2 years (if you are lucky) some 1 (if you are unlucky) and others longer (if you are REALLY lucky).  Because you likely need several years to get sufficient experience and publications from your postdoc most people have 2 or more post docs before applying for a long-term academic position and this number increases all the time as more and more qualified folks are on the job market.  Thus, you can imagine that the second you arrive you are advised to start applying for another postdoc and that all of this can lead to a transient lifestyle.

Overqualified?

So what fits best: academic gypsy?  hobo?  vagabond?  let me even suggest a few additional options: trustafarian or  beatnik?  It probably depends to some degree on what kind of postdoc you do (or don't) secure for yourself.

1.  The 'gypsy' in the post-doc
Now obviously gypsy refers to in many cases a group of people better referred to as Romani (or other ethnic groups).  However, it is also presents the connotation of a way of life, and this is the way I am using the word here - i.e. 'a nomadic way of life'.  Romantic notion although it may have been/usually was not out of choice: traveling the world, nothing but the road in front of you and nothing holding you down.  Certainly sounds great.  In fact the term Bohemianism is related to this very life style and things like 'the bohemian index' are used to denote the general intellectual creativity of a place!  I think this term perhaps best fits the postdoctoral lifestyle.  Part choice part necessity.  You must move to pursue your endeavors...  Generally it is a dynamic time in your career in terms of ideas.  Voluntary poverty in some cases.


A beautiful gypsy woman at Ellis Island (1902).  This woman's expression reminded me of that of other immigrants such as those below.

 

Volga River Germans in a refuge camp in Germany after kicked out of Russia.  My 'German' relatives came from this group who moved from Germany to the Steppes and Volga River area of Russia and as ethnic Germans were later asked to leave. 
Not 'gypsy' but a gypsy life-style illustrating that this type of 'moving from place to place can be for many different reason.



2.  the 'hobo'

 You may or may not already be aware of my idealization of Woodie Guthrie but in case you are not- here it comes again.  A working class soul transversing the land to take it all in, to experience it and fight against the fascist machine.  This is sounding about right.  Full of ideas and noble notions, not yet burned down by the rigmarole - but there is a catch: are you living out in the streets?  do you have a car?  a house?  Has poverty and desolation driven you from your home to seek better options?  Hard to say.


Woodie Guthrie spreading his word.  A lonesome traveler, traveling from town to town.



Beautiful image from dippidty.com.  Another view of the hobo- here an optimistic view of what can be.

3.  the 'trustafarian'
There are indeed some postdocs that are so very prestigious that I think receiving one might be compared to being a trust fund baby.  The trustafarian all comes in based on how you use it.  A trustafarian is generally (in my mind) a young person who comes from money but chooses to talk about politics, ideas etc. without ever having to really WORK for a living so these notions come without a lot of personal experience of how the working man lives (sort of the opposite of our hobo postdoc)! 

4.  the 'beatnik'

Yes, you can picture it.  Intellectual.  But- I never got what this generation did for work.  That said- a hero of mind: Keroauc seemed to have gotten it right.  My favourite book of his: the Dharma Bums describes his time in the Sierras serving as a fire watch.  Maybe just soaking it all up and sharing these experiences through papers submitted to theoretical journals or writing tomes reminiscent of John Muir and Edward Abbey are what this group is all about.

In summary- I think it is what a person makes of the experience (of course as well as circumstance).  Lucky is the soul who can be a gypsy, hobo or vagabond as many others are tied to the place they find themselves for one reason or another.  I think by allowing people at this stage the opportunity to travel somewhere new they are able to grow and develop new ideas- perhaps while moving to work with an expert in the field who was previously far away.  I would love to hear what other people's thoughts and or experiences in the matter of 'what is a postdoc really like' are!

crisp changes

After what seemed to the longest destination-orientated road trip of all time: starting in California and ending in Massachusetts, I am at my destination in crisp New England.  Leaving behind the hot aseasonal summer (i.e. it never is truly fall) of my days as a PhD student in Southern California and starting my first fall as a postdoc the change from hot to the cold crisp fall of Massachusetts.  

(Pictured below is one amazing co-pilot and mostly willing participant...)

It is amazingly beautiful here.  Cold but beautiful.

I don't know what the change from PhD student to Postdoc is like for most people.  So far for me it covers most areas of my life: I live in a new place (let me say I LOVE my new apartment!) in a new city which is entirely different from where I lived before.  I chose to live in a town neighboring the University I'll be working at given it's reputation.  Northampton, MA is considered a seat of bohemian culture.  It is an art community, a home to intellectuals and also as home to Smith college and thus it is also a LGBT friendly city.  I love the perks of all of these attributes which include a suite of cool restaurants and stores within walking distance and local farmers markets as well as an involved community.  Instead of buying all my groceries at the grocery store I can buy them on the side of the road where they are grown!

The department at my new school (in Amherst) is great and now instead of walking to school I take a bus (another change).  My first week here there were several exciting events at the University: a wine and cheese sunset hike, a Science Cafe among others.  Other obvious changes: new people.  I miss my lab mates and friends but irony of ironies one of my very favorite people from my undergraduate and Master's lab is in my new lab!

The final transition is my research.  New projects to pursue abound and I have spent the last week or so reminding myself of what needs to be done to start them.  I look forward to sharing that information here as I proceed.  I meanwhile am making every effort to wrap up old projects which in many ways is equally exciting as it seems the transition from 'dissertation chapter' to 'submitted chapter' is easier than the usual preparation of a manuscript.  I suspect it is all the feedback you receive from your dissertation committee on each and every paragraph you write!   

(Below a view from the window of my new apartment.  Beautiful golden leaves are visible each morning!)

I suspect for many people fall signifies the end of summer.  For me fall has always represented the beginning.  Its the time of year you start school, its when you reap harvests and of course I remember the days of 'back to school shopping' so it is uniquely tied to new clothes as well!  So this beginning as a postdoc in the fall seems appropriate.  I am signing off here enjoying a crisp fall morning view and I look forward to many exiting updates in the weeks ahead!