Being a human scientist

Recently published biology alumna Marta Percolla wants to follow in CSUB mentors’ footsteps to make science accessible to all

By California State University, Bakersfield

August 10^th, 2021

The stereotypical image of scientists as detached and unemotional robotic figures in pristine white lab coats might prevail in movies and on television, but what Marta Percolla found in the biology department at California State University, Bakersfield could not be further from that trope. At CSUB, the alumna not only learned that she wanted to be a plant ecophysiologist, but that she wanted to be an empathetic, open-hearted and personable one at that.

After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology at CSUB’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering, Percolla is now working on her doctorate in biology at UC Berkeley. It was her time working in labs with CSUB’s Dr. Anna Jacobsen and Dr. Brandon Pratt that influenced the kind of scientist Percolla wanted to be, in more ways than one.

“My interactions with Dr. Jacobsen and Dr. Pratt really taught me that being able to be rigorous and thorough in your research is one aspect of being a good scientist and another is to really be human and empathize and be there for people on a human level,” Percolla said. “That’s very important to me and a huge motivating factor to me in my academic career and life in general.”

Now, her academic career has reached another milestone: publication in the “International Association of Wood Anatomists Journal.” Her paper, titled “Hydraulic function and conduit structure in the xylem of five oak species,” is based on research she completed as a graduate student at CSUB. The paper has already been posted on the journal’s website and will be featured in an upcoming print issue as well.

“There is always more work to do, whether research on plants and ecosystems, informing policy or land management strategies or just getting by day to day,” Percolla said. “With regards to publishing this article, I’m just grateful for the team that worked on this project. It’s nice to be part of a kickass team of scientists.”

In her master’s research, Percolla studied different species of oaks that occur in a specific area from Lake Isabella up to Shirley Peak near Alta Sierra. She examined their xylem structure, the vascular tissue that transports water and forms the “wood” of trees. Looking at oaks along an elevation gradient, she wanted to explore how the structures differed in plants depending on their elevation and corresponding temperatures and precipitation.

“All of this is to help inform or predict how under climate change conditions – where we’re expecting hotter years, even less water at lower elevations and at higher elevations – which of these species might or might not have the traits that will allow them to survive future climate change or be susceptible to it,” she explained.

For her doctoral program at UC Berkeley, Percolla is continuing her work in plant hydraulics but is now studying manzanitas as well as oaks. She wants to learn more about the various functions of the plants – like water transport, carbohydrate storage and structural support – and how those can vary within different plants of the same species relative to certain environmental factors.

“That’s always been the underlying interest: anatomy and physiology and how they relate,” she said. “Given the anticipation of more intense and more common fires specifically in this area, I’m interested in understanding what the differences and similarities are among and within these species in this area, and I’m hoping to collaborate with either the city of San Francisco or the different national parks in the area where a lot of these species occur to help inform some conservation efforts.”

The human connection that Percolla aims to maintain as she continues her work in science is what drew her to the biology department at CSUB in the first place. Right before starting at the university in 2011, she was walking around campus to figure out where her classrooms were before the first day of school. Born in Bakersfield and raised in Los Angeles, Percolla briefly attended two other colleges before deciding to enroll at CSUB, which was far enough away from home to find her independence but familiar enough to quickly be comfortable there, with extended family in the area too.

“I wandered into Science I and went up to the second floor and down one of the hallways and there was a professor in a lab with all of these bones on the table, and I looked in and he was so immersed in what he was doing,” Percolla recalled of her first time on campus when she happened to stop by Dr. Ken Gobalet’s lab to ask for directions. “I asked him what he was doing, and he told me he was just organizing his fishbones. We spent maybe an hour talking about it and he was telling me about the evolution of fish. As I talked to him, he encouraged me to email professors who I might be interested in working with to get some lab experience.”

Over her six years at CSUB, as both an undergraduate and graduate student, Percolla worked closely with Dr. Jacobsen and Dr. Pratt, who both study plant ecology. Getting involved in research as an undergraduate gave Percolla a boost of confidence, realizing she could do the work and her professors could rely on her to do it well.

“One of the things that stuck with me and motivated me to keep pushing myself was – I remember at one point Dr. Jacobsen saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I trust you, I’ve checked your measurements, you’re doing a great job.’ And I was just like, ‘What?!’” Percolla said. “I’d never had someone I admired, who I perceived to be so on top of her game and so intelligent and kind, say something like that. It meant so much to have that verbal affirmation. That’s always stuck with me.”

Dr. Jacobsen has worked with Percolla for many years and taught her both in the classroom and as a research mentor. When she applied for the master’s biology program at CSUB, Percolla also applied for and was accepted into its prestigious CREST (Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology) program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

“I have been highly impressed with her performance in the classroom as well as in conducting independent research,” Dr. Jacobsen said. “She is a kind, hard-working and intelligent individual and she has shown an amazing commitment to increasing her scientific skills and knowledge.”

At CSUB, the biology department was able to support Percolla’s development as a scholar and scientist and equip her with the skills she needs to be successful. Dr. Jacobsen further noted that Percolla represents the future of science.

“As a Hispanic female, Marta has the potential to be a leader among the talented and diverse new crop of scientists that are emerging from our region,” she said. “She is empathetic and interested in connecting her scientific work to people and communities.”

What’s next for Percolla after she earns her Ph.D., she doesn’t yet know. Becoming a professor and running her own lab is a strong possibility, but she also likes the idea of using her scientific knowledge to help inform policy to make change or creating programs that makes the sciences more accessible to marginalized people. Whatever she ends up doing, she wants to maintain the human connection that drew her to biology years ago.

“I feel a sense of responsibility to be a human scientist,” she said. “I’ve heard this idea that being kind is often more important or more effective than being correct. It’s not to say facts don’t matter, obviously these things are important, but us being like, ‘That’s just the science,’ that’s not going to convince someone who’s not only skeptical and hesitant to believe you but maybe doesn’t have the scientific backing and understanding. That’s not helping anyone. Being correct and having that data and that information necessitates that we make it accessible to people.”