#77 Mafalda Sousa Ferreira

This week’s PhDetails #77 is with PhD student Mafalda Sousa Ferreira, who has been a student of University of Porto since her bachelor’s in biology. Mafalda has a Masters in Biodiversity, Genetic and Evolution, and is currently a PhD student of the BIODIV PhD program at CIBIO-InBIO and University of Porto, advised by Dr. José Melo Ferreira (Evochange group) and Prof. Jeffrey Good from the University of Montana. Her research has been focused on the evolution and genetic basis of adaptive traits, and she is interested in understanding the contribution of introgression and maintenance of ancestral polymorphism to trait evolution. In particular, Mafalda studies seasonal coat colour change in hares (Lepus spp.) using genomic tools and both phylogenetic and population level approaches.

What is your favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?

Oh boy, that changes so often?! There was a time where I was absolutely addicted to Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin… I love opera too! I was in music school for a while, so I used to listen to that kind of music a lot. But I grew up listening to Queen, Pink Floyd… And a lot of Portuguese or Brazilian music. Rui Veloso, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia, Nei Matogroso… Alright, but if I need to name one, I’ll say Queen! I know all the songs by heart!

Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?

Absolutely Thom York, and Radiohead.

Favourite movie ?

Ok, so… “The fabulous world of Amélie Poulain” is one of my favourites of all time. I also enjoy anything science fiction with “species” from other worlds, like “Star Wars”, and fantasy (“Pan’s Labyrinth”, “Lord of The Rings”, “Harry Potter”). Lately, I’ve been into horror. The “It” movies are my most recent favourite.

Do you listen to podcasts? What are some of your favourites?

Yes! Lately I’ve listened to a lot of Portuguese political podcasts, where they comment on current events. For me, it’s a good way to stay informed and form my own opinion on current events. I also loved the first season of “Serial”, and for the nerds out there, “This Podcast Will Kill You” is awesome.

Where do you study and who are your supervisors?

My advisor is Dr. José Melo Ferreira from CIBIO-InBIO, and I’m co-advised by Prof. Jeffrey Good from the University of Montana.

What year of your PhD are you in?

I just started my 5th, in a European PhD (PhD’s are a marathon, not a race, right? ;)).

Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?

Currently, my advisor. But I was founded by a national scholarship for most of my PhD.

Do you have any publications?

I do! As first author, one in Molecular Ecology, and two as middle author in Current Biology and Scientific Data.

Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?

Yes, I did. It was on the genetic regulation of seasonal coat colour change in snowshoe hares. I did my MSc at the same institution as my PhD: CIBIO-InBIO and University of Porto.

Do you do fieldwork? What is the best fieldwork you have ever done and what made it great?

I did a bit of field work in Colorado during my PhD. It was amazing! It wasn’t my first time, but I had never had the chance to be so “outdoors” as I was then (and we were still going back to a town every night, because it was winter). The US still has some truly isolated areas, where you don’t see a single house or person for kilometres, and that is somehow very peaceful. But what was really wonderful was that I had read about that area on classic papers, and had planned that field trip for about 1 to 2 years before it happened. The trip was part of the first project I wrote and envisioned myself for the first time and, so, being there and seeing what the literature described just brought me a great feeling of accomplishment. Definitely a highlight of my PhD.

How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?

I applied to two programs, both with the intent of pursuing the same project (both were at the institutions of my two advisors)! I guess you can think that that was be a bit limiting? But I felt very motivated to continue the work I had started during my Masters, so that made sense to me at the time.

What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?

…we use a centrifuge salad spinner in lab to centrifuge 96-well plates sometimes… And yes, it works great! 

What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?

I wish I had more connections early on and a better insight of how academia worked. If you’re just starting, you might think you don’t have many options. But PIs all around the world are looking for PhDs. If anything else, get on Twitter early, or find the “evoldir” of your field. Don’t be afraid to contact people if you’re interested in working with them. 

How often do you meet with your main supervisor?

Every week, almost.

What supervisor traits are important to you?

I think different traits might be important for different people. I find that I need a patient advisor, that does not mind and wants to meet with me often. Someone that has good communication skills. And that will help you navigate academia (read the previous answer), and has your interest in mind. 

What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?

Again, for me, someone who expects you to be 100% independent and doesn’t provide much guidance, that does not express interest in you, that excepts things to get done without offering advise or help.

In one sentence what is your PhD about?

My PhD is about molecular mechanisms of evolution and adaptation.

What has been your academic highlight of the last year?

I finally got the result I was hoping to get after writing about it four years ago!

Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?

A year ago, I felt drained and demotivated. I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere with my research, I was entering my last year and I knew I would probably need an extension. I also felt quite unsure of what I wanted to do next, and thought I might not be good enough to continue. I found myself sitting in my desk for hours, doing nothing because I was blocked. It wasn’t a nice. I eventually felt better, moved on… But it’s hard! Science can be so emotionally challenging, since you need to deal with a lot of failure, stress, competition… Sometimes it’s just hard to be motivated.

Which academic idol/scientist have you met?

My first scientific idol was my mom (she’s a biology teacher!). I think I’m a biologist because of her. I’ve also met Peter and Rosemary Grant, Richard Green, Rasmus Nielsen, Michael Nachman, which are all amazing researchers in Evolutionary Biology.

Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?

Hopi Hoekstra

Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?

There have been many inspirations, but at some point one of the postdocs in my advisor’s lab was a big role model for me. I always had male advisors, and she was the first female senior scientist I came in contact with. I think it was just great to have someone around who I could identify with, and inspired me to grow as a scientist and know more and more. Also, she advocated for women’s interests in the department and in science, and that was also a great inspiration.

Do you have a favourite paper?

My recent favourite paper is Barrett et al 2019, Science. I just admire how they were able to tie all the pieces of the evolutionary process together, from the phenotype and its fitness, to the genotype and its functional molecular basis. 

What has been your favourite conference so far – why?

Evolution, 2014, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and it was my first big conference. I was a Master student then, and it was really inspiring to be around so many people that also study evolution. I remember there was an anti-evolution protest outside, which was mind-blowing to me!, and I talked for two hours straight at the poster session and lost my voice. It was just a great experience!

What hours do you typically work?

I usually work from 9h to 18h, but will work after dinner as needed. Weekends too. Lately, I’ve had to do that quite often… 

How do you avoid procrastinating?

I don’t think I’m able to, to be honest. I’m always better at it when I have had enough sleep, when I’m more relaxed in general, more motivated, have my life organized and clear deadlines in mind. When I don’t know what to do… Then I fall on Youtube’s dark side a lot!

What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?

I just really want to know how hares change color, you know?

What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?

To remain sane, I need to work out. I also like to draw, to spend time with my family, go out for drinks with friends, watch some youtube channels or Netflix. For me, it helps to plan ahead and to get into a routine. So, I save my weekend mornings and one or two evenings for the gym and to rock climb (some weeks I’m more successful at doing this that others…). Then, there’s an afternoon on the weekend for my family. I won’t say no to drinks Saturday evenings. If I feel like I need to work, I will skip my free time… It depends! I’m still working on being better organized for sure.

If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?

A million dollars. I think it’s all a matter of funding in the end, right?

What would be your dream job?

I would love to have a job where I could do integrative work in evolution. I really enjoy seeing animals in the field in their habitat, and then transforming that into strings of DNA on the computer server, and tie the results to what I saw in the field. I would like to do a bit more of molecular work as well, to understand how genetic variation affects gene function and alters phenotypes. I don’t necessarily want to be a Professor though.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I would like to be in another country, probably on my second post-doc. Living with my boyfriend, which now lives an ocean and a continent away from me.  

One word to sum up your future in academia:

Stable.

What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?

It is my dream to be able to do a complete pull-up! But first I need to be able to make a complete push-up! So, I guess the push-up first. Ahaha!

What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?

A computer server. 

Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?

California.

Do you have a favourite organism?

Jackrabbits will always be my favourite.

Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?

Group meetings for sure! They are very important and I’m glad we decided to start those in my group. But those are a group thing. During my PhD, me and others have tried to organize social events for the PhD students and, while we were able to do so at first, it always fell through eventually. When they did happen, it was great! I wish we had the habit of doing happy hours every week or something. 

If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?

We need PhD student happy hours and social events, we need better office space for the students, and we need better transportation to our wonderful and remote research centre!

What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?

If you think of a group of species that diverged really rapidly (some classic examples would be cichlids or Heliconius; or in my case hares (Lepus)), we have always known that these species likely hybridize a lot, but we don’t know how much is “lot”. We might have evidence of hybridization among pairs of modern species, but it is likely that the ancestrals of these species hybridized as well, and their ancestors ancestors as well, etc. So, some of the current signatures of hybridization actually still reminiscent of ancestral hybridization. How do you piece that apart? These species evolution is better characterized by a network, but it is very hard to take genomic data and model a network with many (hopefully all) species in the group, and likely many hybridization events. There are methods that work ok, but probably can’t completely disentangle the layered signatures of hybridization. And that is something that I believe will take a few years of research to be able to do.