Sophie

Rowland

Science writer

driven by curiosity

About Me

I am a scientist passionate about making science accessible (and enjoyable) for the masses, particularly the  misunderstood world of microbes. Currently, I am working as a research associate in the Klepac-Ceraj Lab at Wellesley College investigating how the bacteria in the human gut might affect child brain development. Before that, I was studying a community of anaerobic photosynthetic bacteria capable of manganese mineral production, a process previously unobserved. One of the bacteria essential to this process is from the phylum Chlorobium and has been affectionately called Obi Wan Chlorobi. My love for microscopic living things has infected my life outside of the lab in the form of fermented foods, like making my own sourdough bread starter, Bud (yes named after budding yeast). My interests outside the lab not involving microbes include singing Soprano II with the Metropolitan Chorale and playing the carillon, a keyboard instrument connected to bells often in a high secluded tower.