Interview with a Scientist: Dr. Emily Furbee

By Phipps Science Education and Research

If there is one segment of society that is often misunderstood, it is people who work in science fields. Public perception of scientists tends to lean towards lab coats, crazy hair, and beakers full of chemicals, especially in the eyes of children. In reality, most scientists are just regular people who want to make the world a better place through scientific discovery. The best way to dispel the myth that scientists are boring or crazy is to get to know them; the purpose of this segment is to talk with real scientists to ask them what they love about their jobs and why they think their work is fun and important.

This weekend we will be featuring our Fall 2015 Science Communication fellow, Dr. Emily Furbee, at our "Meet a Scientist" public program. The Science Communication Fellowship program at Phipps seeks to bring scientists and public audiences together in face-to-face public interactions that promote appreciation and understanding of current scientific research and its application. As part of this programming, Phipps will be hosting a "Meet a Scientist" public program this Saturday, December 19th from 1:30 until 2:30 PM in the Tropical Forest Palm Circle, where visitors can engage with our science communication fellows and learn all about their research and occupations and even see the very instruments and equipment utilized everyday by scientists. Let's get to know our fellow!

Science Communication Fellow, Dr. Emily Furbee

Hi, my name is Dr. Emily Furbee, and I am a biology teacher and scientist in the Ayoob Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. I am curious about how the cells of a body work together to build a body, and then keep it healthy. Animals, including humans, have astoundingly complex bodies made of many different kinds of cells that all communicate with one another in a language of tiny molecules. They “spit” these molecules at their neighbors in order to deliver messages like: “Let’s build a spinal cord here!” or “I am dying, please come eat me!” My colleagues and I do experiments to help decode the molecular language of cells, so that we can better understand and even help to cure many different human developmental defects and diseases.

Why did you become a scientist?

I became a scientist because I thought I wanted to be a nurse and work in a hospital, but as it turned out, I was awful at it! While I was in college trying to learn to become a nurse, I learned a lot about biology and disease, but even more about myself. I learned that I LOVE to ask questions (especially “WHY?”) and that I never seem to run out of them! As I kept learning, I soon starting asking questions that even my college professors didn’t know how to answer…no one did! Becoming a scientist instead of a nurse gave me a career contributing to the fight against human suffering and disease AND getting to work on puzzles and ask questions that NO ONE knows the answers to each and every day!

What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done at work?

I do a lot of my experiments studying tiny fruit flies. Their bodies are made from cells that “talk” to one another in the same molecular language that human cells use! The most exciting experiments I get to do are making movies of tiny fruit fly eggs growing from a single cell into a whole larvae that can squirm right off the microscope stage overnight. It’s fun to put an egg under the microscope, set up my camera to take a picture every few minutes, and then come back the next day and watch what happened overnight. 

What skills do you use in your job?

My job takes lots of skills. I think the most important of all is the skill of communication. Scientists have to write and talk to each other ALL the time, because we are a team, and none of us know everything. We have to learn how to talk to other people about our questions and our ideas in a way that makes sense and makes them want to help us. Without good communication and teamwork, my research would be impossible, and even if I discovered something amazing, no one would benefit from it. I also use skills like math and puzzle-solving every day. I have dexterity, meaning, I have to be really gentle and good with my hands, since I work with tiny fruit fly eggs. Finally, I use the skill of learning all the time. Being a good scientist means knowing how to find things out, using resources like the library, the internet and other experts. 

What is your favorite part of your job?

The best part of my job is that I get PAID to be curious. It’s amazing!  I don’t get to run around shouting “EUREAKA!” all the time; in fact most of the time my guesses turn out to be wrong. I have to be patient and keep trying. But every once in a while, something new and wonderful happens. Part of this curious adventure is never knowing which days that will be. 

If you weren’t a scientist, what would you be?

If I were not a scientist, I would be a professional woman ice hockey player or Irish dancer and fiddler. I already play ice hockey whenever I get the chance, and I’ve never tried Irish dancing or fiddling, but I enjoy watching others!  I also think it would be fun to be a historian who writes about people who lived in my own neighborhood (or where my neighborhood now stands) in all the eras of the past.

Why is science education important?

Have you ever watched a show that you REALLY liked, and then run around telling everyone you know to go watch it too - because you want to see them enjoy it and have someone to talk to about the crazy ending or whatnot?Science education is important to me in the same way. Science is what I love, and I want to share the feelings I get from doing science through science education. Maybe more importantly though, science is teamwork, and a big part of my job is helping to encourage and develop new scientists to join our team. No two people see a puzzle in exactly the same way, so the more scientists we can develop through science education, the more puzzles we can solve. Finally, not everyone is going to want to be a scientist, and that’s ok!  But even non-scientists help contribute to and benefit from science. Science education matters, even for non-scientists, because we should all be able to make informed choices on what puzzles our taxes should go toward solving, and what kinds of policies we want to have as a human community.  

If you'd like to learn more about our Science Communication fellow and her work stop by the Tropical Forest Palm Circle on Saturday, December 19th from 1:30 until 2:30 PM for our "Meet a Scientist" Public Program.

Photograph taken by Phipps' Science Education and Research staff.