This week we present two stories of scientists having to find a strength within themselves.

Part 1: BiologistH eather Hamlin leaves the safety of the lab for her first field assignment: tagging alligators.

Part 2: As an unconsenting "face of diversity," Dan Simpson contemplates the role of his gay identity in his academic life.

Heather Hamlin earned her BS in Biology, and an MS in Marine  Bio-resources from the University of Maine before working as a Senior Biologist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota Florida. She earned her  Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2007, and then worked as a  post-doctoral scholar at the same institution studying the effects of  environmental pollutants on the endocrine system of aquatic animals. In  2010 she joined the Medical University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor examining how contaminants can alter maternal-fetal health. Eager to get back to Maine, she returned in 2011  to the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences, where she is an  associate professor. Heather’s current research seeks to understand how  human-induced changes in the environment, whether it be climate change,  ocean acidification, or pollutants can affect the reproduction and  development of aquatic animals, many of which are important to Maine’s economy.

Dan Simpson is a statistician. He left Australia for Europe after his PhD in 2009 and is currently an Assistant Professor and the Canadian  Research Chair in Spatiotemporal Modelling at the University of Toronto. 

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