As a historic eclipse graced the skies above New York City and other parts of the country on April 8, 2024, staff members with The New York Academy of Sciences were not going to miss out on this rare opportunity. Below are submissions from a handful of Academy staff who documented this historic happening.
See you in 2079, when the next total full solar eclipse will be visible in New York City!
As the Chief Scientific Officer at The New York Academy of Sciences, I lead the scientific development and growth of a diverse range of scientific programs, courses, and initiatives that support scientists-in-training, STEM professionals, as well as engage and educate science enthusiasts. By fostering collaborations among academia, industry, and government I help to drive advances in science and innovation for the betterment of society.
I also champion women in STEM, host thought-provoking conversations with scientific changemakers, and share my expertise through public speaking and writing to emphasize the pivotal role of science in shaping a brighter future for all.
Undoubtedly, collaborating with billionaire philanthropist and industrialist Sir Leonard Blavatnik to launch the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists program in the United Kingdom and Israel, offering the largest unrestricted prizes for early-career scientists. This program supports pioneering young scientists doing research in areas such as climate change mitigation, pandemic preparedness, sustainable farming, renewable energy storage, mental health treatments, cybersecurity, and water purification.
It has been incredibly rewarding to help scientists at that critical — and often vulnerable — juncture in their career when they are transitioning from trainee to lead investigator. It’s a time when recognition and funding can have perhaps the greatest impact. I often have the privilege of calling the award recipients to surprise them with the news that they have won. It’s a great day at the office when someone bursts into joyful tears in response to your phone call. Helping others succeed is one of the best ways to leave your mark on the world.
There are also quiet moments, one-on-one with someone, that have made me proud of the work I do. I love to host engaging conversations with dynamite scientists about their latest discoveries, and in doing so hope to elicit in audiences the same awe and wonder that I feel about the science of the world around us. A high school-aged girl approached me during a coffee break at a public scientific symposium that I hosted in London in 2022. She grabbed my elbow and said, “You are so inspirational.” I see every second of my work as an opportunity to be a mentor and role model for aspiring young women who harbor dreams of becoming scientists.
As an undergraduate student at university, I attended a lecture that had a reputation for turning stomachs, so much so that students were advised not to eat breakfast beforehand. Students were not required to take notes, just to watch and listen. What followed was a graphic slide show showing how infectious diseases can ravage the human body.
I left the lecture hall wondering: with all the organisms around us, on us, and inside us, how is it that we wake up essentially “healthy” every day? I was immediately hooked on the field of microbiology. As a graduate student in my native Australia, I studied the organism that causes tuberculosis, to develop a more effective vaccine against this now highly antibiotic-resistant infectious lung disease.
During college and graduate school, there were no female lecturers or women leading research labs in my field. This absence of female role models, mentors, and sponsors in scientific research made it challenging for me to envision a future for myself in the field. Back then, the typical paths for postgraduate research scientists were either securing a tenure-track faculty position at a university, combining research and teaching, or transitioning into the pharmaceutical or medical device industry.
Looking back, I didn’t have the inside scoop on alternative career options for PhD scientists beyond the lab. If I didn’t pursue a traditional academic career path I worried: Would I still be “a real scientist”? Unlike most early-career scientists, I found more satisfaction in writing my research thesis than in conducting bench research. Crafting the narrative, exploring the known and unknown, and revealing how my work contributed to a larger puzzle were my true passions. That was my signal that science communications might be my alternative career path.
I relocated from Australia to New York City in 2001 and joined the Editorial Board of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, a prestigious medical journal. As Science Editor, my responsibility was to identify, evaluate and solicit groundbreaking research from universities for publication. I had to swiftly shift from a niche science expert to a generalist, evaluating the work of fellow scientists and swiftly grasping cutting-edge research and treatments for many different human diseases. It was a remarkable chance to expand my biomedicine expertise, cultivate a global network of expert scientists, build my insider knowledge, and contribute to steering the direction of scientific research in the community, at scale.
As a medical journal editor, I frequented The New York Academy of Sciences, regularly participating in its scientific and medical conferences. I swiftly recognized the transferability of my technical and communication skills to the organization’s mission: bringing together top scientific minds to exchange new information and collaborate on science-based solutions for society’s pressing challenges.
Over a decade ago, I joined the Academy’s staff as the Director of the Life Sciences conference portfolio. Transitioning to the nonprofit sector marked another significant career pivot, my first foray into nonprofit business administration, a world apart from my expertise as a microbiologist. In addition to staying current with science and curating cutting-edge programming, my role expanded to include budget management for a standalone business unit, securing program sponsors and donors, negotiating partnerships and contracts, building and mentoring a team of former academic scientists (including many women), and serving as a spokesperson on various platforms to raise awareness of the Academy’s work.
This unique skill set combined science with business management; a path rarely envisioned at the start of a scientific career. Today, as CSO, on any given day my role might involve advocating for science-based policy changes at the United Nations, meeting with university or company leaders for collaborations, creating social media content celebrating women scientists during Women’s History Month, coaching young scientists on communication skills, or selecting deserving researchers for funding to support their ambitious scientific endeavors.
My scientific career represents a journey along the road less traveled — a shift not just from the traditional path of lab scientist to steering influential, mission-driven scientific initiatives, but also a response to the glaring absence of women role models in STEM, a desire to transition from deep expertise in a niche area to a comprehensive understanding of all facets of science and tech, and the need for trusted voices to challenge scientific misinformation. Once a singular force driving discovery in a niche domain, today as a C-suite leader of a nonprofit, I can empower countless scientists, shaping the collective future of science itself.
The Academy has brought together the leading minds in science to solve global challenges for over 200 hundred years. It’s a true privilege – for this moment in time – to serve as one of the stewards of scientific discovery, dialogue, and dissemination during the Academy’s history.
Science nurtures our innate curiosity and is the primary tool for understanding the world around us. It transcends borders and cultures and leads to new discoveries and technological advances that improve our quality of life, from medicine to transportation.
Investment in science has led to economic growth and countless inventions that have evolved into products that today we’d all find hard to live without: from camera phones and the computer mouse to water purifiers and wireless headsets, from dust busters to memory foam mattresses. Science is also crucial for addressing environmental challenges like climate change and provides the data and analysis necessary for informed policymaking. The scientific discoveries made today will shape how our world looks over the coming century.
Here’s who I’d love to have around my dinner table:
One, the legendary naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. His lifelong dedication to wildlife conservation and environmental advocacy has ignited global awareness and action for the planet’s well-being. And let’s not forget that voice!
Two, astronaut, physician, and engineer Mae Jemison who made history by becoming the first African American woman to travel in space. She was a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavor launched in 1992. I met her at an Academy event in 2017 and had to try very hard not to cry with joy in what was a very special moment meeting an inspirational woman in STEM.
Three, primatologist Jane Goodall for her depth of understanding of chimpanzees and their behavior, and for promoting animal welfare and conservation.
Then, let’s throw in fictional intrepid archeologist Indiana Jones and the always rational, skeptical, and analytical FBI Special Agent Dana Scully from the X-Files. Add me as host, and my dinner table for six is complete!
Travel, travel, travel — for the thrill of discovering new cultures, savoring exotic cuisines, forming connections with people from around the world, and marveling at the beauty and diversity of our planet. I just returned from exploring Egypt. The legacy of Egyptian engineering, seen in the precision of their architectural marvels, serves as a timeless testament to human creativity, innovation and determination.
I help donors identify the areas of the Academy’s work that they care most about, and I share ways for them to support that work. I also help donors understand that their collective support makes it possible for the Academy to drive innovative solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.
One of my proudest moments thus far has been securing underwriting support to ensure the success of the many cancer-focused conferences that are organized by The New York Academy of Sciences. Many of my extended family members and friends are cancer survivors or cancer patients and two years ago I decided to move back to New York to be able to spend more time with them. I am proud to be able to work with The New York Academy of Sciences and know that we are convening researchers, clinicians, and industry leaders to create a brighter future in cancer treatment.
I think science is important to society because science helps us address the top challenges that we all face together, like creating a sustainable future for life on this planet.
I would most like to have dinner with Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson. She is a trailblazer and has had a long career as a scientist, educator, and leader. She believes in being intentional in the inclusion of women and people of color in the STEM fields. She believes that in order to use the power of science to uplift people’s lives, we must tap the complete talent pool and provide the resources needed to grow the talent pool. She recognizes that there has been progress, that more progress is possible, and that more progress is needed. In every place she goes, she strives to make a positive difference. She is relentless, tenacious and resilient, and I look forward to learning more from her.
My family and I enjoy the outdoors and we spend as much of our free time as we can with our extended family and friends exploring and learning through outdoor activities like hiking, viewing wildlife and camping.
When I first came to the Academy, I was a program manager on the conferences team. The very first conference that I planned from start to finish was on neural prosthetics, called Building Better Brains: Neural Prosthetics and Beyond, which was funded by the Aspen Brain Forum.
Now, 15 years later, I provide strategic oversight for the conference portfolio across life sciences, physical sciences and engineering and sustainability. I also oversee our international awards portfolio, which includes the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, as well as the Takeda Innovators in Science Award and the Tata Transformation Prize. Most recently, we have launched two new fellowship programs for postdoctoral scientists, which include the AI and Society Fellowship with Arizona State University, as well as the Leon Levy Scholarships in Neuroscience.
We surveyed our conference attendees about the impact our conference had on their research and career. I think it’s incredible that one-third of respondents changed the course of their research in response to what they learned from our speakers. I’m really proud that our conference programs are impacting the research enterprise in that way. I had the same experience at an Academy conference as a post-doc.
I’m also really proud of the opportunities that the Leon Levy scholarships are providing for neuroscience post-docs in NYC. They receive mentorship from an established scientist in addition to their research PI, they have financial support to care for children or other dependents, and they receive professional development opportunities that will be invaluable no matter what career path they choose. If they stay in academia, it’ll help them set up their lab. If they leave academia, it’s going to help them to find a new job because they’ve been properly prepared. So it’s just been so gratifying for me to be a part of launching this new partnership.
Well, for one thing, the Academy is a very old and esteemed scientific institution. But it’s an institution that’s changed and grown to meet the challenges in society and in science over the past 200 years. I love that the Academy has risen to the challenge during really important times in history. For instance, we were one of the first organizations to hold a scientific conference on HIV in the 80s when there was a lot of stigma associated with HIV. During COVID, my team presented virtual programming that educated thousands of members of the public on key public health information.
I also think it’s important that we bring scientists together across sectors, disciplines, and stages in their careers. At one of my conferences, there was a line of postdocs and graduate students waiting to meet Jim Allison the year he won the Nobel Prize. There aren’t many venues where, as a young trainee, you can meet your heroes in real life and have a chat with them about a research question.
I started college as a music major thinking that I would become a professional clarinet player. The thing was, I had performance anxiety—I just hated going on stage. And that made me think about how anxiety impacts performance from a psychological and physiological perspective. So I ended up studying psychology — which hooked me on thinking about the mind – and I found a research lab that was studying skilled memory. I learned that I loved applying the scientific method to pose research questions and collect data as opposed to the subjectivity of music.
I went to graduate school in Pittsburgh where I did behavioral research, and then when I came to NYU for my postdoc, I used brain imaging techniques to study how emotion influences memory formation.
I believe that most major challenges in society can be addressed by science. And because science is the key to understanding our world from how the universe was formed to the experience of human consciousness.
Rudy Tanzi, a neurologist at Mass General. He plays piano and I really enjoy talking with him about music, science, and consciousness.
Another person who would be great is Richie Davidson, the cognitive neuroscientist who studied the neural activity of Buddhist monks while they were meditating.
I’d also like to meet Marie Curie because she was the only female scientist to win the Nobel Prize twice. I’d like to trade stories on the challenges of being a female scientist.
Spending time with my son Thomas and my cats Cleopatra and Claudius, going to the beach and gardening on Cape Cod. And I love reading. Nabokov is my favorite author. He was trained as a scientist—he studied butterflies before he became a writer—and his prose is so elegant.
I recently started playing the clarinet again after 20 years and that has brought back a lot of memories and joy.
I advise programming and research directions for the newly launched AI & Society initiative. This includes mentoring of postdocs, maintenance of the weekly research seminar, and the preparation of new public-facing programs on critical societal topics.
During my second week here, I gave testimony to the New York City Council on the integration of AI into public schools. Our schools are asking whether or how chatbots should be used. Should they be banned? How should teachers assess students’ work? These are important questions. But we might ask a different question: Are the challenges AI poses to schools also an opportunity to re-articulate the aims of education itself? The Academy is drawing on our deep ties to both leading AI professionals and the academic institutions of New York City, with the goal of facilitating discussion on generative AI as the value of education is transformed. I invite students, parents, teachers, administrators, and citizens to join us on this journey and help generate a new articulation of the aims of AI and education in tandem.
I agree with the Academy’s values as a scientific society, motivated to advance the public interest towards democratic ends. All three of these values are frankly missing or massively undervalued in the AI space at present.
Science is important because it helps keep outlandish claims about technology and the future in check. Very few of the leading voices in AI right now have substantive, meaningful commitments to science, but they draw from its language and methods in order to lend objectivity and authority to their work. Restoring the relevance of science means clarifying how it actually works and why it is important, so that it is not mis-appropriated by bad actors. I have a blog, The Retort, whose theme is the fact that most technical work in AI is more like medieval alchemy than modern science.
Top of mind for me is Carl Sagan. Sagan was a unique combination of scientific integrity and public communication. He was a genius at both and in particular how to use one to inform the other. Over dinner I feel I would both learn a lot about astrophysics and about human nature—about our collective relationship to the cosmos.
I jog around the reservoir and garden in Riverside Park (my wife and I live on the Upper West Side of New York City). I also like to read for pleasure—my favorite books of all time are The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky and Moby-Dick by Melville. I reread them both on a semi-annual basis! A recent book I would also recommend is Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen.
I coordinate logistics, contact vendors, negotiate contracts, and manage platforms to support internal and external events.
Bringing together different departments to work together to host an Open House event that marked the official opening of the Academy’s new headquarters at 115 Broadway. Marketing helped Meeting Ops with printing and laminating; Meeting Ops supported Development with logistics; and on the day of the event, our executives helped us hang paintings! It was a mix of enthusiastic minds and tireless hands, and that collaboration delivered a successful evening.
It spreads knowledge and improves education.
Sir Isaac Newton. He was very shy—so shy that he would not share his findings on gravity! If not for a bet with friends that changed everything from there on, where would we be? I would love to sit down with him and just get him to talk, talk, talk and I would just listen, listen, listen.
I love taking care of myself by spending time at a spa.
In my role as Director of Life Sciences, I’m responsible for supervising a diverse range of scientific symposia, evening events and workshops encompassing the fields of life sciences and public health. My role involves facilitating meaningful connections between academics, industry leaders, non-profit representatives, government officials and various stakeholders to foster innovation in science through the exchange of ideas.
One of the most fulfilling experiences during my tenure at the Academy was orchestrating our inaugural event post-pandemic. After two years of exclusively virtual conferences, the opportunity to reunite stakeholders from across the globe for the Advances in Pain conference was truly gratifying. Being the catalyst for the resurgence of enthusiasm within the scientific community and witnessing the restoration of in-person idea exchange and networking was immensely gratifying.
I take immense pride in my long-standing tenure with the Academy because we serve as a beacon for the most accomplished and innovative individuals who are dedicated to advancing science, often through unconventional pathways. We are united by a shared aspiration to champion the highest standards for the progression of scientific knowledge.
Science plays a vital role in society as it drives innovation and technological advancements, improving our quality of life. It helps us understand and address pressing global challenges, from climate change to public health crises. Furthermore, science empowers informed decision-making, fostering a more sustainable and prosperous future for all.
If given the opportunity, I would like to have dinner with Dr. Paul Farmer, who is now deceased. He was a global health hero who brought medical care to the poor and marginalized. I have been a long admirer of his work pioneering community-based healthcare and championing equity in health care.
I like to spend time with my family, go hiking in the desert, and paint.
In my role, I manage K-12 School & Community Programs in New York City aimed at sharing the joys, relevance and importance of STEM with students.
This past May we had our first in-person Science Student Showcase since the start of the pandemic. We invited students from 25 schools to share what they learned throughout the year and show off their science communication skills. I was so impressed with all the students, and their excitement was contagious. It felt great to be able to be in-person again and seeing the product of a year of work.
In 5th grade I did a project on Thomas Edison where I built a model of a telegraph machine. It was so cool to learn about his life and all his inventions. I loved the idea of problem solving to make life easier, and it got me interested in how science and technology can do just that.
Science is about asking questions and discovering knowledge, and I think that’s necessary for society to keep moving in a positive direction.
Marie Curie, because I’m sure she could tell amazing stories about the work the led her to TWO Nobel Prizes, and also stories about what it was like to live life in the 19th century.
I like crocheting, watching true-crime TV, and planning my next vacation!
When I started at the Academy, I helped to administer the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. I reviewed nominations, collaborated with expert scientists and worked with the winners to help convey their research to a general audience. I now work as an Editor for our academic journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, where I help find reviewers for manuscript submissions, give input on which manuscripts should be considered for publication and copyedit papers to prepare them for publication.
Since I’ve served in two capacities for the Academy, I have two different “proudest accomplishment” answers. During my first year on the Blavatnik Team, I collaborated with Blavatnik Award Laureate Heather Lynch to get her ready to present her research—on the use of satellite machine learning to find Antarctic penguins—to the audience of the National Blavatnik Awards Symposium. I’m really proud of that. And more recently, as an editor, I’m very proud of the first special issue that I conceived and organized, which was on the Biology of Social Behavior. What a thrill for me when the first article of that special issue was published!
I find the dissemination of science critical for society. This is particularly important in the current environment where there is a high level of science skepticism. I also enjoy seeing the excitement and awe in my friends, family and acquaintances when I tell them about the science I am discovering and reading.
Scientific discoveries have been crucial to improve the health of society. My family, like so many others in the world, have experienced illness and daily life challenges. Whenever someone I know recovers I always say, “YAY SCIENCE!” It’s a way to express my gratitude for all of the work, brilliance and creativity that scientists have brought to the table.
A dinner with biologist, naturalist and author David Attenborough would be amazing. As he is a fantastic storyteller, I would be able to listen to his incredible journeys observing the natural world, animal interactions and adventures.
I’m a painter and have shown and sold my work in local neighborhood art festivals.