Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Dr. Carly Anne York is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Lenoir-Rhyne University. There, she is also the founder and faculty advisor of the student organization SEEDS, which is focused on promoting diversity and accessibility in the life sciences. Carly received her B.S. in Exercise Physiology from Elon University, her M.S. in Ecological Sciences from Western Kentucky University, and her Ph.D. in Ecological Sciences from Old Dominion University. Afterwards, she was a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Virginia Wesleyan College before joining the faculty at Lenoir-Rhyne. In our interview, Carly shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:10)
When Carly isn’t in the lab, you can find her at the farm and animal sanctuary that she runs with her husband. They have donkeys, a horse, many cats, and a chicken. In addition to taking care of the animals, Carly and her husband grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
The Scientific Side (4:09)
As an animal physiologist, Carly studies how animals’ bodies have evolved to perceive and interact with their environments to help them survive and thrive. She focuses in particular on sensory biology, examining how animals experience the world through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
A Dose of Motivation (5:02)
“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts” – Wendell Berry
What Got You Hooked on Science? (6:09, 8:53)
Growing up in Washington, D.C., Carly remembers visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Zoo. Her mother enrolled her in zoo camp each summer, and she loved learning about animals. In college, Carly rode horses competitively, and she wanted to apply principles of exercise physiology to horses. She didn’t realize that studying animal physiology was an option she could pursue, so she majored in exercise physiology. After she graduated, Carly spent a year volunteering at the North Carolina Zoo in their Wildlife Rehabilitation Center getting experience and taking some additional biology classes she needed to apply for graduate school. Within a month of starting her master’s program, Carly was convinced that she wanted to get a PhD and pursue a career in academic science. Accepting a faculty position at a smaller liberal arts school has given her the opportunity to do research, teach, engage in science communication, and manage her farm at home.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (19:04)
In her PhD program, Carly did research on sensory biology in squid. She investigated how squid use hair cells along their bodies to sense and respond to predators. Working on squid was difficult because they had to catch their samples in the ocean, bring them back to the lab, and then hope the animals performed the expected behaviors during their experiments. In her case, Carly needed a flounder fish to chase the squid and the squid to escape from the fish. She had one flounder named Chomsky who reliably performed his part of the experiment every time, chasing the squid on command. This really helped her with data collection, and Carly grew quite fond of Chomsky. Unfortunately, one evening Chomsky jumped out of the tank overnight. When Carly found him on the floor the next morning, she was devastated. It was an emotional time, and Carly was worried about whether she would be able to get the data she needed for her project without Chomsky. She persevered and ultimately completed the project with other fish.
A Shining Success! (22:48)
One of Carly’s biggest successes lately has been the books that she has written. She published two children’s books and is working on her first book for an adult audience. As far as research successes, as a PhD student, Carly contributed to a project investigating the biomechanics of squid locomotion. The project involved using fancy instruments that image the flow of water around the animals as they move, and there are only a few of these instruments in the world. Before starting this project, Carly didn’t have a lot of experience in physics and mathematics, and these are the basis of biomechanics. The research project really put her out of her comfort zone, and it was very rewarding to get the paper published with the results from study four years after finishing her PhD.
Book Recommendations (25:38)
An Immense World by Ed Yong, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach, Red Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson, Queens of the Jungle by Dr. Carly Anne York
Most Treasured Travel (26:55)
Last February, Carly went on a winter survival camping trip in Wisconsin with a group of fellow scientists and science communicators. The goal of the trip was to meet people who work in the same field, brainstorm, and learn new skills that you could incorporate into your science communication. This was another experience that was really outside of Carly’s comfort zone. It was snowy and cold, and Carly wore snowshoes for the first time while she was there. For accommodations, they could choose to sleep in a tent with a little wood stove, a yurt in the snow, or in a cabin with a heated floor. Carly chose the cabin, and not only did she survive the trip, she had an amazing experience connecting with and learning from other science communicators.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (29:44)
When Carly transitioned from studying horses in her master’s degree research to studying squid in her PhD program, she didn’t realize what studying this new organism would entail. Carly is actually not a big fan of being out on the ocean, and she gets seasick on boats. The first time she went out on a boat with her advisor, his wife, his family, and another graduate student, they were tasked with investigating a report of a sea turtle that may have become trapped in some netting. The water was rough, Carly didn’t take her Dramamine, and she was very seasick. This experience still haunts her, and her advisor even teased her about it in the introduction to her dissertation defense presentation years later.
Advice For Us All (32:55)
Know that failure is part of the scientific process. Rather than viewing failures as negative experiences, you should think about them as opportunities to learn something new and help you determine the choices you make next. The scientific method is not the linear process printed in textbooks. It’s more of a meandering journey to find new information.
Guest Bio
Carly is an animal behaviorist and physiologist who has spent her life studying how animals interact with their environments. Her current research examines the sensory physiology of the African clawed frog, an invasive species found around the world. She also works with the North Carolina Zoo and has completed research projects with students studying chimpanzees and African elephants. Carly teaches animal physiology and vertebrate zoology courses, and she is also an avid science communicator and writer. She has collaborated with TED-ED on the creation of science lessons, has participated in numerous YouTube shows and podcasts, has been featured on The Science Channel, and has written two children’s books about animals.