![Beth flexes her left arm confidently displaying a tattoo depicting both model organisms she studies: frog and zebrafish](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/scientistspotlight_A2K7cm.jpg)
Dr. Beth Bearce was a doctoral candidate in the Lowery Lab at Boston College when this interview was conducted. She has since successfully defended her dissertation. Beth studies the embryonic cells that later develop and differentiate to create almost all tissues of the face.
![Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/scientistspotlight_VsMS1q.jpg)
Evolutionary biologist interested in physiology, genomes and human-mediated adaptation.
![Nicole Dobroski](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/scientistspotlight_P5Rirl-e1646683224713.jpeg)
Nicole Dobroski is an Assistant Chief of the Marine Environmental Protection Division for the California State Lands Commission. She has worked for the Commission since 2006.
![Dr. Kiana Frank](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/scientistspotlight_N8PHCb-e1646720213898.jpg)
Dr. Kiana Frankʻs fundamental research goals are to identify environmental drivers of microbial dynamics and to characterize the impact of microorganisms on biogeochemical cycling in mineral-hosted ecosystems from mountain ridges to mid-ocean ridges.
![Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/Dr.-Rae-Wynn-Grant.jpg)
Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant is a large carnivore ecologist with an expertise in using statistical modeling to investigate how anthropogenic factors can influence the spatial patterns of carnivore behavior and ecology.
![Elise Gray](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/Elise-Gray.jpg)
Elise Gray is a PhD candidate in the Meyer Lab at Boston College. Her research focuses on the evolution of cis-regulatory RNAs in bacteria and in her spare time she enjoys fiber arts and exploring nature.
![Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/Dr.-Ayana-Elizabeth-Johnson.jpg)
Dr. Johnson is the founder and CEO of Ocean Collectiv, which is a strategy consulting firm for “conservation solutions grounded in social justice”.
![Dr. Ambika Kamath](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/Dr.-Ambika-Kamath.jpg)
Dr. Ambika Kamath is a Miller postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, working with Damian Elias in the Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management.
![Dr. AJ Kumar](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/scientistspotlight_C4wvVc.jpeg)
Dr. Kumar is the Chief Scientific Officer at Jana Care.
![Dr. Laura Lagomarsino](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/Dr.-Laura-Lagomarsino.jpeg)
Dr. Lagomarsino is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and proud Director of the Shirley C. Tucker Herbarium at Louisiana State University. She is a botanist and evolutionary biologist.
![Shayle Matsuda](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/Shayle-Matsuda.jpg)
Shayle is a graduate student working on a PhD candidate in Marine Biology at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in the Gates Coral Lab.
![John Mead](http://sites.bc.edu/scientistspotlight/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2022/03/John-Mead-e1646777634993.jpg)
John Mead is the Eugene McDermott Master Teacher in Science at the St. Mark’s School of Texas, where I taught with him from 2006-2009.