Please join us for a special seminar discussion with Paloma Medina, Ph.D., a computational biologist and award-winning science communicator. Paloma will be giving their talk, “Looking for Marla: At the Intersection of Sex Chromosome Evolution, Culture, and Gender” on Monday, April 3rd at 3 PM in Geology Rm 223. This talk will follow Paloma’s experience researching and self-publishing Looking for Marla, an illustrated novel that follows the tale of a curious clownfish in transition as they find their way through fatherhood and into motherhood.
Paloma Medina, Ph.D.
University of California Santa Cruz
Talk Title: Looking for Marla: At the Intersection of Sex Chromosome Evolution, Culture, and Gender
Monday, April 3rd, at 3pm in Geology Room 223
Bio and Description:
Paloma (they/them) is a computational biologist with a Ph.D. in Biomolecular Engineering program from UC Santa Cruz. They are an award recipient of the U.S. Fulbright student research scholarship and the National Institute of Health T32 Training Program. Their creative work has been supported by numerous organizations in Santa Cruz including the Science and Justice Research Center, the Santa Cruz Arts Council, and the UCSC Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development.
Their research on sex chromosome evolution inspired the creation of Looking for Marla, an illustrated novel on the sex life of clownfish. Looking for Marla follows the tale of a curious clownfish in transition as they find their way through fatherhood and into motherhood. In wild clownfish populations, a male will transition into the role of the dominant female of the community when the female of their community is removed. This biological fact is omitted from the iconic movie Finding Nemo and is a story that our book Looking for Marla helps to share and correct. In this talk, Paloma will share their experience as a graduate student creating this story, from scientific research to self-publishing.