The gift that shaped my career in science
Nature asked about your most memorable scientific gifts. You delivered.
As a schoolboy growing up in western India, Surendra Ghaskadbi received two memorable gifts from his parents. “The first was a T-shirt decorated with illustrations of different dog breeds, and the second — much more precious — was a jet-black cocker spaniel named Nabab. In retrospect, I believe these gifts sparked my lifelong affection for animals.”
Nabab and Ghaskadbi spent all their time together, with the puppy following him around and sitting on the floor next to his bed while he slept.
The puppy inspired him to follow a career in zoology — a field Ghaskadbi worked in for more than four decades. “Looking back, I truly believe it all began with Nabab and that wonderful T-shirt. Even after almost 60 years, I still miss him.”
Surendra Ghaskadbi’s puppy Nabab inspired his career in zoology.
Surendra Ghaskadbi’s puppy Nabab inspired his career in zoology.
Like Ghaskadbi, many researchers can trace their initial childhood interest in science to a gift. Dozens of readers of the Nature Briefing responded to our call asking about their favourite presents — the ones that first got them interested in the field, as well as those they received as adults and hold dear as mementos of their life in research.
The list includes books, laboratory tools and some more surprising items — such as hand-crafted knits, a skull and even yeast-themed wedding rings exchanged by researchers who met in a lab.
Inspiring science instruments
In 1968, 11-year-old Gilles Leclerc cried with joy when his parents got him a small refractor telescope for Christmas. He had begged them for the gift, but never expected to receive it because his family wasn’t wealthy and he knew it was a big ask. The present arrived at the perfect time — only a few days after the launch of the Apollo 8 mission that completed a historic lunar orbit. “The first thing I looked at was the Moon,” he says.
He went on to study engineering physics and joined the Canadian Space Agency when it was created in 1989. Leclerc became the agency’s director-general of space exploration in 2010. A high point was when he took part in negotiations with NASA to include a Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen, on a flight around the Moon on the upcoming Artemis II mission, says Leclerc: “Something 11-year-old me would never have dreamed of doing.”
Gilles Leclerc, director of government and international affairs, Canadensys Aerospace, Bolton, Canada.
“My folks gave me a chemistry set when I was young, maybe seven! It made a great impression on me — I remember having an alcohol lamp and making sucrose crystals on a string. I remember with vivid imagination a yellow block in there that I’m pretty sure would have been sulfur. Looking back, I cannot believe the things that were in there, but it was 1963–64 — things were different back then!
I think it brought science to me because when I was growing up, scientists were always male. It taught me that I could have fun and do experiments. It really did open my mind up.
I love doing experiments and finding answers; the chemistry kit started that. I’d say it was a good investment on my parents’ part!”
Mary Anderson, biochemist at Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas.
“My father was a scientist. He gave me a chemistry set and a microscope. The chemistry set was only good for poisoning the basement. But that microscope! It revealed the existence of a fascinating microbial world. In particular, I remember an entire afternoon spent watching the heartbeat of a water flea. That microscope taught me to how to be still and observe, launching me onto a lifelong path in the biosciences.”
Jonathan Dinman, cell biologist and director of the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, Rockville, Maryland.
“I always showed an interest in animals and the natural world, so I was given a small microscope as a birthday present when I was about seven or eight years old. It looked and felt exactly like the larger ones I encountered many years later in my undergraduate microbiology classes. It even came with sample specimen slides, a set of clear slides, cover slips and a dropper. I explored the world of insects, petals, pollen, pond water, leaves, grasses, human skin and hair, and even a drop of blood. I gave myself a huge fright when I first looked at a much-magnified (dead) ant!”
Liliana Endo-Munoz, research grants officer at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
“The best science gift I have received was from my father when I was five years old. Having been a radio technician in the Air Force in the Second World War, he had a shortwave radio at home in his workshop. One night in October 1957, he was able to pick up the signal from the Sputnik satellite as it passed overhead. I was so fascinated by the sound and the fact that it came from a satellite orbiting overhead that I wanted to figure out a way to get involved in space exploration. Besides building and flying model rockets, I have had the chance to participate in aerospace medicine research sponsored by NASA, the Air Force and the Space Force for over 50 years. Thanks again, Dad!”
George Pantalos, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon and bioengineer at the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky.
George Pantalos has tested medical devices in zero gravity.
George Pantalos has tested medical devices in zero gravity.
Life-changing books
“In the mid-1960s, I was ten years old and living in suburban New York when I got this book with a stereoscope as a Christmas present from my aunt and uncle: Aerial Stereo Photographs for Stereoscope Viewing in: Geology, Geography, Conservation, Forestry, Surveying by Harold Wanless. It changed my life. They did not remember it.”
Cindy Williams, retired plant ecologist, Fairbanks, Alaska.
“I was given The Fossil Book by Carroll Lane Fenton and Mildred Adams Fenton in about 1964. Although I was like most little kids in having an abiding interest in dinosaurs, it was this book that opened my eyes to the possibility of being a professional palaeontologist. That eventuated, and I have had a most enjoyable career. As I keep telling people, I was paid fairly well for doing something that would otherwise have been a hobby.”
John Laurie, palaeontologist, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
“About 75 years ago, I received a Dutch book called De Jongens van de Hobby Club (The Boys from the Hobby Club; even at that time, part of the title was in English). It dealt with chemistry and piqued my interest in the field. That led to me receiving my PhD in physical organic chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1965.”
Leo Roos, retired research chemist and consultant, San Diego, California.
“I was already going to be a biologist or a doctor, but the key present was for my 12th birthday (I think — which was in 1961): a large-format book built around Charles Darwin’s life and voyage, and the story of the evolution of life, including a large fold-out, full-colour map of the voyage [of HMS Beagle]. It was my first formal introduction to Darwin and evolution as central to understanding biology; after that, I wanted to do that sort of work. I did become an evolutionary biologist and behavioural ecologist.”
Anne Clark, retired evolutionary biologist and behavioural ecologist, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York.
“On my eighth birthday, my grandparents gave me a set of All About… books, including Dinosaurs, Strange Beasts of the Past and The Stars. This set me firmly on the path to becoming a practising scientist.”
Philip Levy, retired physicist, formerly at the particle accelerator centre TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada.
Gifts from the natural world
“The best science gift I ever received was a sheep skull that my paternal grandmother cleaned and mounted on a wooden frame. My nuclear family observed but never engaged with my interest in natural history, but when I received that skull on my ninth birthday, I felt seen and supported by her, which led to a career in wildlife conservation and science for children.”
John Aikin, executive director, Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo, California.
“My mom picked up cows’ eyes to dissect when I was in middle school. She was a nurse, and bought or was given the cows’ eyes at a slaughterhouse. I had just started wearing glasses and wanted to see what eyes looked like inside. I wanted to understand how they worked and why I had to wear glasses. I imagine she got scalpels from her clinic. The eyes were beautiful: the colours and patterns were magnificent and the corneas were so perfectly formed.”
Michele Lloyd-Puryear, paediatrician–geneticist, Rockville, Maryland.
Marisa Guido’s work with mosquitoes inspired an insect-themed gift from a friend — and this tattoo.
Marisa Guido’s work with mosquitoes inspired an insect-themed gift from a friend — and this tattoo.
“A friend gifted me a photo of mosquito illustrations. I actually have a tattoo of an Anopheles mosquito on my forearm, and it is oriented in the same way as the illustrations.”
Marisa Guido, vector biologist, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Handmade treasures
A friend made this needle-felt brain by hand for neuroscientist Alice McQueney.
A friend made this needle-felt brain by hand for neuroscientist Alice McQueney.
Knitted noggin
“My friend made a needle-felt brain for me (with pretty great anatomical accuracy), and inside it is a mountain camping scene, complete with a tent, campfire and forest. When he gave it to me, I thought he had bought or commissioned it from somewhere and was so surprised and impressed that he had made it! It made the gift that much better.”
Alice McQueney, neuroscientist, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
Plush protein
“During the first year of my postdoc, my principal investigator (PI), Iva Hafner Bratkovič, gave me a handmade plush toy that represents a permuted protein — a form of single-chain protein that reconstitutes when it dimerizes. Development of this system has been the focus of my postdoctoral research. The plush toy has become a memorable prop that I often bring out when presenting my work. I love this gift not only because of how quirky it is, but also because it symbolizes the diligence and effort (a hand-sewn gift!) that our PI brings to the job every day.”
Taja Železnik Ramuta, biomedical scientist, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Many proteins join together to perform functions, as represented by this plush toy.
Many proteins join together to perform functions, as represented by this plush toy.
Some viruses can infect bacteria — and provided inspiration for this bacteriophage cheese board.
Some viruses can infect bacteria — and provided inspiration for this bacteriophage cheese board.
Viral kitchenware
“I'm a microbiologist — my husband made me (without prompting!) a bacteriophage cheese board. Best gift ever!”
Holly Pinkart, microbiologist, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington.
Gifts that mark milestones
“My husband and I met in graduate school in Chuck Martin’s yeast molecular-genetics lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey and got married while we were postdocs in George Carman’s yeast phospholipid-biochemistry lab (also at Rutgers). Yeast cells exist as one of two haploid mating types, a and α; after fusion of the two cells, they form a diploid called a/α. To symbolize our union, our wedding bands are engraved with the a/α symbol. That wedding band was the best gift I ever got — scientific or not.”
Virginia McDonough, molecular biologist, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
The fusion of two mating types of yeast is represented in this ring engraving.
The fusion of two mating types of yeast is represented in this ring engraving.
Victoria Haritos received a one-of-a-kind engraving of an enzyme for her 50th birthday.
Victoria Haritos received a one-of-a-kind engraving of an enzyme for her 50th birthday.
“Fifteen years ago, on my 50th birthday, I received this subsurface laser engraving from my colleague Andrew and his partner Kristen. It is the 3D structure of a carbonic anhydrase enzyme that we rationally engineered to be stable and operate in extreme salt conditions to capture carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel emission sources (we subsequently published the study in Nature Communications1). I’ve always treasured it because it represents the fantastic collaboration we had. The detail is much better than my photo shows and it was such a unique gift!”
Victoria Haritos, chemical and biological engineer, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
“As a structural biologist, I quickly came to realize that all the letters of my full name code for amino acids. A group of students and lab colleagues took the sequence of my name and fed it into the AI system AlphaFold to predict the protein shape and generate a structure of ‘me’. It turns out that I am an α-helix and, not only that, the two Cs in my name form a disulfide bridge! The present that I received on my birthday a few years ago was a 3D printed model of ‘myself’ in the language of proteins.”
Richard Charles Garratt, structural biologist at the São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
When fed the letters of Richard Garratt’s name, AlphaFold generated this protein structure.
When fed the letters of Richard Garratt’s name, AlphaFold generated this protein structure.
Priceless memories
“The most beautiful gift was given to me by my father in the 1970s when, for a small amount of money, he rented a house with other families in a small, abandoned mining village located deep in the woods of the Metalliferous Hills in Tuscany, Italy. I was less than ten years old and, with the other children, I was able to run freely among tunnels, mineshafts and mineral dumps. I remember that we used to talk with passionate mineral prospectors who had pushed deep into the antimony mine, right up to the actual mineral veins. It is probable that my passion for minerals and rocks was born right then. Today, I am a geologist and I have been teaching science for 30 years.”
Gianni Bianciardi, geologist, Siena, Italy.
“My best science gift is undoubtedly my ex-husband. He encouraged me to start studying — because, as he said, he was successful in his academic studies and I was much smarter than him. He further enabled me by gradually taking over many of the household tasks. I started my studies when I was 33, took three years at community college to get a two-year degree (while I still had small children at home), three years to finish the bachelor’s, both with a perfect 4.0 average, then four years to do both my master’s and PhD. I received my PhD when I was 43, with computer scientist Herb Simon at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Without my ex-husband’s encouragement and help, this would never have happened.”
Anonymous.
“I remember my grandfather offering me an hour-long guided tour of an agricultural biochemical lab while I was eight or nine years old. He explained what they did there, showed me living objects through a microscope, chemical reactions in a glass tube, models of agricultural machines and so on. In the end, I worked for decades at the particle-physics lab CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.”
Hans F. Hoffmann, retired physicist, Geneva, Switzerland.
The volcanic island Rangitoto lies in the Hauraki Gulf off the coast of New Zealand.
The volcanic island Rangitoto lies in the Hauraki Gulf off the coast of New Zealand.
“I was given a tour of Rangitoto, an island in Auckland Harbour in New Zealand that is only 700 years old. Strangely, epiphytic plants that usually grow on other plants instead colonize the scoria: the aerated volcanic rocks that cover the surface of the island. Many of the plants there are otherwise rare and obscure, but have ethereal beauty, such as the kidney fern [Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum]. I fell in love once more with the flora of New Zealand. Hopefully many more people will receive this gift!”
Michele Moore, plant and environmental scientist, Christchurch, New Zealand.
“The encouragement I received from Harold Good at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. He inspired me to become a plant pathologist. We were kindred spirits, being equally enthralled with both the academic and practical aspects of botany. He was my scientific father, guiding and prodding in the right direction. He saw the world as it was, and provided excellent advice. The gift gave me a university position and the experience to write textbooks. What a treasure he gave me.”
Ronald Jackson, retired botanist, Oakville, Canada.
Gifts for the next generation
Decades after his cocker spaniel spurred him towards a life in science, Ghaskadbi helped to open a similar door for his daughter, Pallavi. When she was around 12, he says, Pallavi was interested in the outdoors and went on trips with a children’s adventure group to forests and nature reserves around India. Ghaskadbi and his wife bought her a camera to capture the things she saw on her expeditions.
According to Pallavi, this gift started her journey as a wildlife biologist. “It wasn’t fancy, but it opened a world I’ve never stopped exploring. I would wander through forests in India, photographing birds, reptiles and shy mammals, learning to wait, to listen and to move gently. At home, our cats were my first feline models; in my parents’ labs and museums, I discovered the quiet poetry of preserved lives and living curiosity.”
For Pallavi, now at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå, the gift wasn’t just a physical object, but the inspiration to look at the world around her in a different way. “That camera taught me to observe, not just to look, and it still sits on my desk today as a reminder that the greatest gift my parents gave me was a lifelong love of seeing the wild with wonder!”
Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
References
- Warden, A. C. et al. Nature Commun. 6, 10278 (2015).
Photo credits
Surendra: courtesy of Surendra Ghaskadbi; George Pantalos: NASA; Aerial Stereo Photographs: Hubbard Press; Falling books: Theresa Wilson/iStock via Getty; All About The Stars: Random House; Mosquito tattoo: courtesy of Marisa Guido; Needle-felt brain: courtesy of Alice J. McQueney; Protein plushies: courtesy of Taja Železnik Ramuta; Chopping board: courtesy of Holly C. Pinkart; Wedding ring: courtesy of Virginia McDonough; Engraved enzyme: courtesy of Victoria Haritos; Protein structure: courtesy of Richard Charles Garratt; Mount Rangitoto: NZSteve/iStock via Getty.
Author: Anne Marie Conlon
Illustration: Fabio Buonocore
Design: Wes Fernandes
Subeditor: Anne Haggart
Editor: Kerri Smith
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