Home • Newsletter • Meeting Information • Membership • Officers

Job Opportunities • Sites of Interest

Nature or Nurture

By Jessica Snider

2007 Article Links

Benefits of ASM Membership
Challenges of Writing
Double Epidemic
Fifth Disease
Fish With Hormonal Imbalances
Frankel Photos
Frankel Talk
Hep C Meds
Horror of AIDS
Hantavirus in New Mexico
Juan Reyna
Nature or Nurture
Nosocomial Infections are a Red Flag
Open Eyes to Science
Pandemic Flu Plans
Polio
Project ECHO
Typhoid Mary
West Nile Prevention
Zoo Diseases

Time to answer that age old question, “Are microbiologists born or made?”

I have personally spent hours debating this question with friends.  And while scientists embrace their geekdom once in graduate school (or earlier for some of us) we have found that not all started out that way.

Rosa, a microbiologist at UTEP says she and her father were always interested in science, starting with a love for watching ants.  Rose started studying medical research but found that she had a soft spot for her lab animals.  Her family ended up adopting the lab rat, who was free to roam around the house in his post-science retirement years.  She moved to microbes because they rarely scream loud enough for humans to hear.

Other students did not even like science.  UTEP microbiology student Mayte Yichoy admits to “almost failing high school biology but loved anatomy.”  She believes that professors make the difference. “If the professor is excited, it helps feed students.  With a lousy professor, I lose interest.” explains Mayte.

Her original career plans were to become a divorce layer so that she could make a lot of money.

As for me, I was probably born a scientist.  At two, I had already claimed ownership to every “mushwoon” in the yard and had a “security picture” of a bison instead of a blanket or doll.  After years of going to museums, science camps and national parks, I found the Magic Kingdom to be a total waste of my 14 year old time. I wanted to spend the day learning about manatees or repeatedly riding Starship Earth.  My love for microbiology started with a fascination for hemorrhagic fever diseases!

Sadly, it appears that additional sampling is needed to answer the question.    Are microbiologists the result of nature or nurture?  You decide.

Jessica Snider is a PhD student with the Biology Department of the University of New Mexico.  She is studying the ecological role of roots growing into caves.