“This gives you a unique perspective as a scientist that’s actually really important…it’s not you overcoming these challenges, but more like you make science better.”

Billie Goolsby is a second year graduate student in the Laboratory of Organismal Biology at Stanford University, studying how poison frogs co-parent their offspring. Before going to college, Billie knew she enjoyed the open-ended question asking that science allowed, but wasn’t sure exactly what being a scientist looked like. In college, Billie participated in the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program at Boston University and through that, found a lab studying neuroethology in ants. Billie’s love of understanding animal sociality and the neuroscience behind it has led her to where she is now, studying neuroethology in poison frogs. Billie is hard of hearing, and in this episode we talk about how this has impacted her experiences as a scientist, as well as how we can make science more inclusive and welcoming for people of all abilities. We also talk more broadly about how to talk about disability, and how to be a good advocate and ally for others.

Mentioned in the episode:

• American Sign Language for STEM
• Visual Language and Visual Learning Center at Gallaudet
• Research labs at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT
• Deaf x Lab

Get in touch with Billie:

• Twitter

Get in touch with Steph:

• Instagram
• Twitter

Get in touch with the podcast:

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

Listen and Subscribe:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts