We're excited to get a moment with the amazing Dr. Jeanette Davis - Dr_Ocean24!
Plus, get a copy of her bestselling books with link below.
Unlike most marine biologist, I didn’t grow up with fond memories of the ocean. I did however, grow up loving science and was first exposed to ocean science in college at Hampton University which is located along the Hampton River.
I quickly fell in love with ocean science because I realized to study the ocean is to study a variety of sciences. The ocean plays a huge role in our well-being. I love the connection between the ocean and other sciences, and humanity.
"No young person of color should feel excluded from science."
Q:) What are some common misconceptions in your field?
One of the common misconceptions is that marine biologist are limited to studying charismatic fauna such as whales, sharks, sea turtles, polar bears, dolphins, etc. but there’s so much more to being a marine biologist. So much of the overall health of our ocean is impacted by the microscopic organisms that you can’t see with the naked eye.
The large marine life that we can see depend on these microscopic organisms as well as humans. Most of the oxygen that we breathe comes from plant-like microscopic bacteria in the ocean. My specialty is marine bacteria (microscopic) which is why I consider myself a marine microbiologist.
Q:) What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into microbiology or another marine science?
I would tell them to embrace curiosity and failure because it’s the foundation of science including microbiology. I would also mention that modern day microbiologist don’t carry around a microscope to study organisms that we can’t see.
We instead study life at the “molecular level” (such as DNA, RNA, proteins, metabolites, etc.) which are essentially biological materials that identify who an organism is, what it does, and how it interacts in its environment. So to be a microbiologist is have a strong background in molecular/cell biology and chemistry/biochemistry. I would advise them to start there and do well in those courses because they are the foundation for microbiology.
Q:) What actions or conservation milestones are you working toward currently? How do you think/what actions can we use to effectively save our oceans?
One conservation action that I am taking to help save our oceans is having a meatless diet. Eating fewer animal-based products saves water and decreases run-off from animal farms. The water run-off picks up waste from the farms, pollutants, and other potentially toxic materials that eventually end up in our ocean and have negative impacts. Some effective actions to help save our ocean is eating less or no meat, replacing single-use plastics with reusable materials, and talking to local elected officials about the importance of environmental health.
Q:) What’s your proudest moment or greatest accomplishment in regard to conservation?
My research in graduate school was focused on understanding bacteria associated with a Hawaiian sea slug and its algal diet. An anticancer compound was isolated from both these organisms and so we hypothesized that it may be a bacterium shared by both the slug and its diet organisms that is the actual anticancer compound producer. This is very important because often time in marine drug discovery, organism can potentially be overharvested in hopes of extracting enough of a therapeutic/drug for clinical trials. When the anticancer compound was first discovered in this Hawaiian sea slug and its diet, massive amounts of the slug and algae were collected.
Using molecular approaches and microbiology, we were able to determine that it is indeed a bacterium responsible for the anticancer compound. The research findings were published last year in Science (“A microbial factory for defensive kahalalides in a tripartite marine symbiosis) and I’m excited that my skills as a marine microbiologist is allowing me to better understand a variety of organisms while conserving marine species.
Q:) You have books! What was it like writing these stories and what was your inspiration?
I was inspired to write this book because I believe no young person of color should feel excluded from science. All children deserve books that accept and represent them.
My bestselling children science book is a fun and inclusive way to engage young readers in science. It reveals that science is all around us and for everyone, hence the title: “Science is Everywhere, Science is for Everyone.” The main characters are diverse and as a black woman in science, I want to create the change that is needed to diversify science.
Pick up your copies from Dr. Davis's website or you can order them from other retailers: Barnes&Noble or Amazon