SCIENCE MEETS: Dr Jen Ryan

What does it mean to be a Scientist?

Dr Jen Ryan
Cognitive Neuroscientist

September 2021 marked 20 years for me as a principal investigator. Which means having a website—one that showcases the RyanLab science, shares our collective and individual experiences, and reflects on lessons learned—is probably long past due.  But now, here we are! So why did it take so long?

Those who know me well know that I am quite introverted, that I like to think deeply about things before I share them, and that if I’m in, I am all in (this latter quality makes me a pretty terrible poker player, btw). Thus, even something as seemingly simple as a website felt like it should have a broader purpose than just discussing our latest research findings. I wanted to be comfortable sharing the personal side of science and the research process, to make STEM more accessible for everyone, and to help those more junior in their careers achieve success. But getting comfortable in showing that personal side isn’t easy.  To showcase the personal side of science, generally speaking, would require having difficult conversations about the fact that not everyone has an equitable path to becoming a scientist, and we would also need to talk about the assumptions society often makes regarding how scientists should live their lives both inside and outside of the lab.

For instance, I recall a conversation I had with a well-established woman in an adjacent field. She assumed that my parents were also academics and was quite surprised to find out that they worked primarily in construction and retail. Genuinely curious, she asked, “How did you even get here?”  After regaling her with a bit of my career history, and the opportunities that I had identified and chosen to act upon, she nodded her head and said quietly, “You should be really proud.” This moment brought home for me that a career in science is actually not available for all. Many have had this career modelled for them by their parents and grandparents. I got lucky by having a wide swath of champions and allies who helped me deftly navigate a career path that I hadn’t even known existed. Others face nearly insurmountable societal and economic barriers that either prevent them from advancing in their careers, or from engaging in science in the first place.

Another moment stands out for me. On my lunch break one day, I went to the gym in the basement of the hospital which houses our research institute. As there was no one in the gym, I had the weights, the treadmill, and the TV all to myself. So, I turned on Days of our Lives. I grew up watching soap operas with my family; my grandmother, in particular. My college roommates and I would gather every day at 2pm to watch Days. It’s simply good, clean, escapist fun. A colleague walked in the gym, looked at the TV, and gave me the look. “Are you watching this?” she asked. When I answered in the affirmative, she said, “but you’re a scientist.”  I took this to mean that she considered such activities to be beneath me, and/or that I was somehow ‘less than’ as a scientist because I happened to enjoy soap operas. This was a relatively harmless comment leveled at me about my preferred leisure activity, but other scientists have faced quite destructive comments attempting to regulate how they outwardly present themselves, or society’s expected roles for them within their homes have impacted their careers.

For these reasons, and many more, I’d like to pull back the curtain on what we, as scientists, do, how we got here, and most importantly, who we are and how we intend to change our respective fields for the better. In this space called ‘Science Meets’, and across other social media platforms, I will introduce you to my team, RyanLab alumni, and my colleagues. We will share our discoveries and the (occasionally haphazard) ways in which the ideas were struck.  We will demonstrate that science is truly for everyone. There is no *right* way to get here, and there is no need to be anything other than who you are, unapologetically.

Welcome to the RyanLab and to Science Meets; more to come.