Fiona Brinkman

Interviewed by David Bradley

Born

Melbourne, Australia

Position

Research Associate, University of British Columbia

Life events

Emigration to Canada in 1969, self-acceptance that I was a female computer geek in 1984, Ph.D. in 1996 (although not in computers), marriage in 1997 (to another computer geek/geneticist).

Biography Born in Australia. Happy childhood primarily around Toronto, Canada. Obtained BSc in biochemistry at University of Waterloo and PhD in biology (microbial genetics) at University of Ottawa in Ontario. Developed computational skills as a hobby. Now my husband and I are a happy three-computer family. Research interests Microbial genomics. Increasing the quality of genome annotation and the usefulness of genome-annotation information. Genomic, phylogenetic, and functional analysis of bacterial outer-membrane proteins and other particular families of proteins.

How would you describe yourself?

Computational microbiologist/microbial geneticist who loves research, the great outdoors, and computers (not necessarily in that order).

What first inspired you to go into your field?

My parents are scientists and love the outdoors, and so I was exposed to the wonders of nature early in life. I've been fascinated ever since with nature's complexity. I did well at math and logic, and so also enjoyed playing with computers. I was therefore naturally attracted to areas of research that combine the two.

How did you get your current job?

I wrote to my supervisor because I was interested in working in his laboratory (as a postdoc). I kept emailing him after that until he couldn't say no.

Why do you think your boss picked you?

Because I kept emailing him and because I had worked in a few labs as summer jobs that had given me valuable experience.

What do you enjoy about your work?

The variety of work I get to do (writing, reading, presenting, traveling - and I do both "wet work" and computational work at the moment). Also, the fact that I'm learning something new all the time.

What do you dislike about your research field?

How you sometimes get put down by "wet-lab" researchers any time you present a computational analysis, because they feel computer analysis is just "playing" and not "real research."

Are there aspects you would change?

In an ideal world it would be nice to be able to explore every interesting result you ever get. However, I don't think I'll get to do that until I'm retired with my own little lab/computational facility in my basement.

What was your first scientific experiment?

Hard to remember. I remember as a young child trying to determine which bugs like to live under rocks the most, by looking under rocks and looking under other items (leaves and small bits of wood).

What were the results?

Good question! I'm afraid I don't remember much, though I definitely remember being amazed at how many more bugs there were under the rocks I turned.

How did the experience increase your maturity as a scientist?

I've always remembered this incident and thought, "Well, if I was studying life back then, I guess I was meant to be studying life now."

What was your high-school science teacher like?

I had a few, and, in general, I thought they were good (though never amazing).

Did that inspire you?

I'm afraid not, really. I was more inspired by being outdoors.

What is your proudest achievement?

(1) Combating meningitis at the age of 2.
(2) Inspiring some students to pursue a career in microbiology.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

I'd need to drink a few beers before I'd mention it!

What advice would you give a younger scientist?

I would tell them something my uncle told me that I found very helpful. This is approximately what he said: "Don't worry about trying to go into this or that research field because it seems like the appropriate or hot field to get into at the time. Just work in whatever field you enjoy, and you'll find that it works out well in the end. If you enjoy it, you'll find you naturally do well."

In what areas do you think you need advice yourself?

How to finish up papers that are half written, and get them out!

What would you be if not a scientist?

Computer games creator.

Why that occupation?

I like computer games (yes, I mentioned I was a computer geek), like programming (what small amount I've done), and like art (I really enjoy drawing). Game creation requires you to do a bit of each of these.

Which scientist from history would you like to meet?

Leonardo da Vinci.

What would you ask him?

What process did you go through when coming up with a new invention?

What has been the greatest scientific discovery last century?

Penicillin.

Why that?

Its effect on human health, and because it initiated the age of antibiotics.

What will be the great discoveries of this century?

Truly great discoveries cannot be predicted, in my opinion. I would guess that sentient artificial intelligence is around the corner, and there will likely be significant insights into the workings of the human body.

A version of this interview appeared in issue 64 of HMSBeagle