Being connected to other scientists locally and around the world is extremely inspirational for me. Especially given the constraints on traveling to conferences in the past years. For me, platforms like Twitter and virtual conferences and virtual seminars have been really important for maintaining those connections. Going through what we've experienced even a handful of years ago would have been so different and more isolating as a scientist, without some of the technological advances that we now have, with the ease of virtual programming.

Have there been any positive aspects or outcomes from this summer?

I've been happily surprised by how well the team seems to get along with each other, even though we're not in person. We have a really fun and healthy level of banter that occurs through Slack and through iNaturalist comments that are left for each other. We're having little side conversations, tagging each other, and drawing attention to a particular feature of a plant, or something that we thought was comical about the setting of the photo. It's fun that people's personalities have really come through, even though we're limited in how we're communicating with each other. We're having more fun than I would have expected on an all-remote team.

Does hope appear in the daily work you do?

There's a lot to be discouraged about right now: inaction on climate change and pandemic response, and inequities regarding environmental racism. It’s important to find sources of hope. Those might come in the form of seeing students or mentees get excited about the scientific process. When I was teaching disease ecology in the spring, I was seeing and hearing students make insightful connections between these core concepts that they were learning in class and what was playing out on the local and global stages regarding the pandemic. I would say teaching and mentoring definitely give me a lot of hope. There are also a lot of people who continue to very eloquently speak out about ongoing injustices regarding pollution, land use, access to medical care, and actions combating climate change. Those people also give me hope.

How do you view the relationship between science and social change?

It's imperative that scientists who study infectious diseases are learning how to be good science communicators, and learning how to explain fundamental, important processes and concepts to a broader audience, including family, friends, and students. Also learning how to publicize our research in ways that are clear and not just full of jargon. I think science has always impacted society, often in very dangerous and unhealthy ways. But there are also useful, productive, and healthy outcomes that can come from scientific innovation and deeper scientific understanding.