“I can’t count on validation to come from someone else, it has to come from myself.”

Nia Walker is a fourth year PhD candidate in Steve Palumbi’s lab at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station.  Nia has been interested in marine science since doing a fourth grade squid dissection. Nia’s love of marine science continued on through college and a gap year working at the Maritime Aquarium in Connecticut, and now she studies stress tolerance in corals in Palau. 

Some of things we talk about in this episode include how to identify a good mentorship network, the importance of prioritizing your own well-being, how being the first Black graduate student at Hopkins has influenced Nia’s experiences in grad school, and how creating one’s own definition of success can help us not compare ourselves to others as much, and thereby lead to greater satisfaction and more happiness.

Get in touch with Nia:

• Twitter
• Email: niasw@stanford.edu

Get in touch with Steph:

• Instagram
• Twitter

Get in touch with the podcast:

• Email: rootstostempodcast@gmail.com
• Website: rootstostempodcast.com