Theresa

Background | Motivation | Interest

Ingenuous Interest

Teenage Theresa, fueled by a touch of hubris, set out to understand human thinking. In its entirety. So she went on a quite chaotodisciplinary quest, studying Psychology (and dropping out instantenously), Biology and Philosophy (those sticked enough for her to finish degrees in them). However, over the years the problem of understanding how the human mind works, became ever more elusive, ultimately leading her to forget why she thought this would be a scholarly problem.

Bonding with Biology

Somehwere in her erratic academic odyssey, Theresa discovered molecular biology and fell in love immediately. Next, developmental biology blew her mind. How does that work? A single fertilized egg, then a bunch of stem cells and at some point: an inside and an outside, a head, tail, hands, stomach and – most crazily – a brain! Development and Differentiation, everything controlled by genes – getting the grips with this kept her occupied for many years.

Reaching Out

The fascination for research stayed with Theresa after leaving the lab. She was convinced that if people knew enough about science, it would captivate everyone. Thus, she actively looked for ways to convey this, from discussing it with friends to performing in theater, launching her blog Gene of the Week, and contributing genetics articles to various news outlets.

Spreading the Word

Theresa learned that many scientists desire to engage in outreach but face challenges related to time and opportunities. Her solution was to simply help them. So she dedicated her time to create platforms and channels, fostering opportunities, and provided coaching. Her trainings empowered PhD students and Postdocs at various research institutions to reach out to public audiences using mediums such as blog posts, podcasts, videos, or live science presentations. Theresa remains committed to help scientists communicating about their research.

From Research to Science Management

After her PhD and a short Postdoc, Theresa switched from research to science management and accepted a position as science manager for early career support at PIER, the partnership between DESY and Universität Hamburg. In 2022, she became Science Communication Officer at CENIDE, the center for Nanotechnology at the University of Duisburg-Essen and is currently working as research manager and science communicator at the hydrogen and fuel cell center ZBT.