During the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF), there will be an event called “Pizza with the Prof,” where young researchers like myself will have the opportunity to chat with a prof over a delicious slice of authentic Italian pizza. These are not just any profs; they come from all over Europe, and hold prestigious positions in universities, scientific journal publishing groups, industry, etc. As soon as I found out about this event, I knew exactly whom I wanted to meet: Professor Julia Fischer, who is the director of the Cognitive Ethology Lab. Ethology, according to wikipedia, is the study of animal behavior, and is a sub-topic of zoology. The Cognitive Ethology Lab is based in Germany, and they primarily study cognition and communication in nonhuman primates, focusing on vocal development, cognitive abilities, and social system formation.
My research is in breast cancer genetics, and my training program is focused on human disease. So Professor Fischer’s research really has nothing to do with my career training. But of course, if you know anything about me, you already know that I LOVE MONKEYS! Actually, I love all primates equally (maybe a little less love for lemurs, they are not as cute), I just call them collectively monkeys. In my spare time, I read about monkeys, look up cute monkey photos, and collect monkey-related items. It is a dream to hang out with monkeys 24-7. Meeting someone who actually gets to do that is as close as I will get to this dream. Needless to say, I am extremely excited, and need to start thinking about all the questions I have for Prof. Fischer. Suggestions?
cute monkey photo: lucy, whom i adopted from some baby clothing store.
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