“Doing good” looks a little different for everyone. Our Ambassadors help us celebrate what that means in their corner of the world – from representation to education, community involvement and getting outside, and pursuing joy in life’s little moments. Truth be told, each of them are our inspiration!

Angelique is a PhD student who studies octopuses during the week and scales tall walls rock climbing on the weekend. She is on a mission to challenge and redefine the common perception of what a scientist looks like, while sharing ocean facts and finds along the way (peek her Instagram @angeliques.outthere).

We chatted with Angelique about her research on octopuses’ visual processing, rock climbing, tidepool finds, writing a children’s book, creating an octopus fact beer label, and representation in science. Read on!

Toad: Thanks so much for chatting with us, Angelique! We’d love to hear the backstory on your two passions: science and rock climbing. 

Angelique: Science has always been a large part of my life, but the story of how I became an octopus scientist has many twists and turns. I grew up on the East Coastbac, and while my family took some trips to the beach, I never felt a strong tie to the ocean itself. I was more interested in collecting sea glass than looking for the wonders that the ocean holds. Then, halfway through middle school, my family moved to Kansas, with no ocean nearby. I went to high school there and learned that I really enjoyed biology, so when I graduated, I pursued a biology major at the University of Missouri, but I had no idea what I was going to do with this.

I thought scientists cured patients and worked in pharmacies, and I rarely saw women or people of color in these offices. So, I never felt compelled to work with patients or investigate disease.

In my junior year of college, I learned about discovery-based research, and I was amazed by the fact that you could study something just because you were curious about it. After learning that, I quickly joined a lab to investigate animal perception. Shortly after this, I fell in love with octopuses by watching videos and reading about them! I had never seen one outside of an aquarium before, but upon graduating college, I decided I would study them in graduate school at the University of Oregon. Now, I spend my time working in the lab asking questions about how the octopus thinks about what it sees or their visual processing!

And yes, I love rock climbing! I have been doing it for almost 8 years, and I am so thankful for all the incredible memories I have made while doing it. I started rock climbing my second week of college thanks to someone who is now a close friend, but at the time they were just an employee at a rock wall. I just happened to walk by said rock wall, and he asked me if I wanted to try rock climbing. I had never tried it before, so I said yes!

As a very fresh freshman in college, I was desperately in need of community, and in that moment, I just happened to be invited into one of the warmest communities I have ever known.

Some of my favorite memories ever were made on climbing trips, but one that I will never forget is when my friends and I drove to the middle of the desert, hiked for a couple of hours in crocs, and climbed a desert tower to fly a kite. The moments that combine a physical challenge with a silly objective are always my favorite.

Toad: Never underestimate the power of saying yes on a whim! Relatedly, what inspired you to write a children’s book? And what inspiration do you hope this book brings for the younger generation?

Angelique: I am always trying to find ways to educate and inspire both K-12 students and their support systems (parents, siblings, etc) because I know that the next generation of scientists need well-informed at home systems to support and encourage them to fulfill their potential and follow their curiosities.

This comes from my personal experience with my parents, since none of us were introduced to fundamental science (science that is done to increase our knowledge base and not necessarily to create a product or solve a problem) until the end of my undergraduate career. While they were generally supportive of my interests and career exploration, my parents did not know anyone in this career so they could not confidently help me pursue a future as a marine neurobiologist.

My latest project to do this is writing a children’s picture book called Dreams of a Scientist: Lessons from the Sea. It will introduce children and their support systems to the ways that animals experience their world (did you know the octopus can see polarized light, or that swordfish may be able to sense magnetic fields), while highlighting scientists from historically excluded groups that are studying these animals. This book will follow a fictional young girl, Margo, who gains her confidence by observing an octopus camouflage, whales sing, and sharks smell! As she experiences this, she interacts with different nonfictional scientists who have made real scientific discoveries in these fields.

This book will help children identify role models who discovered something they think is cool, interesting, and likely even inspiring. It will also educate about different scientific career paths, while combating stereotypes of what scientists look like and improve perspectives on who belongs in science!

You can read more about the book at www.dreamsofascientist.com and follow along with the Dreams Team on Instagram @dreamsofascientist.

Toad: We are so looking forward to reading it! What other fun ways are you encouraging historically excluded groups to learn about science and the outdoors? And what keeps you moving forward on tough days in the field?

Angelique: Accessibility in science is such an important topic, especially at this time in history! It is something that is improving, but there is still a LOT of work that needs to be done for different types of communities. As a black woman in science, I put a lot of effort into uplifting racial minorities and gender minorities, but these are not the only communities that need attention.

There are a lot of efforts that I am organizing to help scientists share their story and improve their own communities, like Science Communication and Outreach for Public Engagement (SCOPE). I have also been focusing on public facing activities like an octopus fact covered beer label, building a social media presence to show that people who identify similarly to me belong in science and outdoors, and talking at museums and aquariums about the connection between the outdoors and science.

The main thing that keeps me going on the tough days is my surrounding community. I have made incredible connections with people in amazing organizations like Disabled in STEM and Minorities in Shark Sciences, and I have had the opportunity to collaborate with inspirational scientists like JP Flores and the 20 scientists that will be featured in my book.

Toad: We are so inspired by appreciative of your efforts. Thank you for making a difference! What have you learned about yourself through your research and/or rock climbing?

Angelique: Anyone who is going through a PhD program knows that you learn how resilient yet patient you can be when working towards a huge goal. I think that rock climbers can also relate to that on a shorter time scale. It takes a lot of planning, organizing, and precision to scale a 1,000-foot vertical wall, and it takes even more to discover something completely new about the world.

Research and rock climbing have also put me in so many situations where I have had to react quickly and solve big problems with a limited number of resources. It has brought out and built up my strengths as a think tank and an innovator, which I am incredibly grateful for.

Toad: Cheers to resiliency and patience – it’s not easy! We’ve gotta know: what has been your coolest tidepool find?

Angelique: The day that I see a cephalopod (like an octopus!) in the tidepools this answer will change, but I LOVE finding nudibranchs in tidepools. They are gorgeous little neon sea slugs, and there are so many different kinds that come in literally thousands of different shapes, colors, and sizes.

Toad: Finally, we ask all of our Ambassadors to finish this sentence: “Every day I aspire to…”

Angelique: Every day I aspire to inch what we know about our world and ourselves forward while inspiring the people who are still finding their pathway and using their potential to change the world.