Get social: 32 academics to follow on social media

When we ask our scientists for top tips, many of them suggest you find someone in the area you’re interested in and talk to them. One very simple way to do this is to follow people on social media – people who are already working in the field you want to learn more about.

What will you gain from doing this?

a) Their tweets and Facebook and Instagram posts will give you an insight into their fields – warts and all.

b) You will be introduced to a whole community of like-minded people with very similar interests to you.

c) Advertisements for jobs, internships, training opportunities and competitions always pop up on social media, so you’d be ahead of the game when you spot them.

A quick search on your favourite social media platform will get results, but here are some ideas to give you a head start.

#biology, #biosciences, #biologicalsciences

This field is incredibly broad, encompassing animal science, genetics, botany, human biology and much, much more.

Who to follow:

Imogene Cancellare, Conservation Biologist and PhD candidate, University of Delaware, USA
https://twitter.com/biologistimo
https://www.instagram.com/biologistimogene/
https://www.facebook.com/biologistimogene/
http://www.biologistimogene.com/

Joanne Manaster, Biology Lecturer, University of Illinois’s School of Integrative Biology, USA
https://twitter.com/sciencegoddess
https://www.facebook.com/joannelovesscience
https://joannelovesscience.com/

Phil Torres, Biologist and TV host, New York, USA
https://twitter.com/phil_torres
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClaC4xkueyTnrJQ6IvdMlgg

Samantha Yammine, Neuroscientist and PhD candidate, University of Toronto, Canada
https://twitter.com/SamanthaZY
https://www.instagram.com/science.sam/
https://www.samanthayammine.com/

#earthscience, #environment, #environmentalsciences

Geography, oceanography, geophysics, ecology, conservation – all of these subjects, and more, fall under the category of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Who to follow:

Emma L Johnston, Professor of Marine Ecology and Ecotoxicology, University of New South Wales, Australia
https://twitter.com/DrEmmaLJohnston
https://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/emma-johnston

Dr Jacquelyn Gill, Ice Age Ecologist, University of Maine, USA
https://twitter.com/JacquelynGill
https://contemplativemammoth.com/

Dr Karen James, an independent researcher interested in molecular ecology, conservation and environmental research
https://twitter.com/kejames
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-3v_pAJmQk&feature=youtu.be

Mika McKinnon, Field Geophysicist and Adjunct Professor, University of British Colombia, Canada
https://twitter.com/mikamckinnon
https://www.facebook.com/mika.mckinnon https://www.instagram.com/mika.mckinnon/
https://about.me/mikamckinnon

#education, #stem, #steamm #sciencecommunication, #scicomm

There are loads of people posting about science in general, or STEM, or STEAMM, or science education. Some are passionate about science communication; others about gender equality in STEM. Influencers in these spheres are worth following because they give you a sense of what a career in STEM or STEAMM might be like.

Who to follow:

Dr Adam Rutherford, Presenter, BBC Inside Science, UK
https://twitter.com/AdamRutherford
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036f7w2

Dr Jennifer Williams, Professor, College of Education, Saint Leo University, USA
https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsEdu
https://www.jenwilliamsedu.com/

Mitchell Moffit, Co-Creator of AsapSCIENCE, Canada
https://twitter.com/mitchellmoffit
https://www.youtube.com/user/AsapSCIENCE

Roma Agrawal, Structural Engineer and STEM advocate, UK
https://twitter.com/RomaTheEngineer
https://www.instagram.com/romatheengineer/?hl=en
https://www.romatheengineer.com/showpage.php?pagename=home

#engineering, #tech, #computing

Our society is becoming increasingly reliant on technology; it’s a burgeoning field that needs engineers, computer scientists and technology experts, and there are plenty of people posting about next-generation technologies on social media.

Who to follow:

Karly Moura, Computer Science Teacher, USA
https://twitter.com/KarlyMoura
http://karlymoura.blogspot.com/

Kevin Folta, Professor in Biotechnology, University of Florida, USA
https://twitter.com/kevinfolta
http://www.talkingbiotechpodcast.com/

Dr Lucy Rogers, Visiting Professor at Brunel University and Fellow at the Institution of Mechanical Engineering, UK
https://twitter.com/DrLucyRogers
https://lucyrogers.com/

Neil Harbisson, Cyborg Artist, USA
https://twitter.com/NeilHarbisson
https://www.instagram.com/neilharbisson/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj3hjHJjMr929EZ_nlxcEkN5OdO54bp8V
https://www.cyborgarts.com/

#health, #medicine

When we think about careers in health and medicine, we tend to think of doctors, nurses and surgeons, but there is so much more to the field. You might be involved in health policy, health education, youth work, mental health. You could be working in dentistry, speech therapy or in the pharmaceutical sciences.

Who to follow:

Hugh Kearns, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Australia
https://twitter.com/ithinkwellHugh
https://www.facebook.com/ithinkwellhugh/
https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/hugh.kearns

Pardis Sabeti, Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard University, USA
https://twitter.com/PardisSabeti
https://www.instagram.com/sabeti_lab/
https://www.facebook.com/pardis.sabeti
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDJAWnHexRotNMQQ3jB-97g
https://www.sabetilab.org/

Kevin Pho, MD, physician, USA
https://twitter.com/kevinmd
https://www.facebook.com/kevinmdblog/
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/
https://www.kevinpho.com/

Vineet Arora, Associate Chief Medical Officer, University of Chicago Medicine, USA
https://twitter.com/FutureDocs
https://thehospitalleader.org/author/varora/

#physics, #chemistry, #math #maths

These subjects are so very different and yet very much intertwined. As a physicist, you could be working in nuclear energy, quantum physics, electronics or nanotechnology. As a chemist, you could be working in chemical engineering, with new materials or in pharmacology. As a mathematician, you might be working with statistics or in operational research; but many scientists agree that these three subjects are the backbone to many other careers, from environmental researcher to marine biologist to engineer.

Who to follow:

Dr Jess Wade, Postdoc in Physics, Imperial College London, UK
https://twitter.com/jesswade
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/jessica.wade

Dianna Cowern, Physics Graduate, MIT and Former Research Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
https://twitter.com/thephysicsgirl
https://www.youtube.com/physicsgirl

Dr Suze Kunde, Nanochemist, UK
https://twitter.com/FunSizeSuze

John Urschel, PhD Candidate, Department of Mathematics, MIT, USA
https://twitter.com/JohnCUrschel
http://math.mit.edu/~urschel/

#socialsciences, #humanities

Anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, linguistics, politics, philosophy, psychology and sociology all come under the umbrella of social sciences and humanities.

Julie Hecht, PhD candidate and animal behaviour researcher, City University of New York, USA
https://twitter.com/DogSpies
https://www.facebook.com/DogSpies/
http://dogspies.com/

L E F T, phd, Postdoctoral Fellow, Writer, Lecturer, Hip Hop Scholar, USA
https://twitter.com/LeftSentThis

Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine Segal Professor of American Social Thought and History, University of Pennsylvania, USA
https://twitter.com/DrMFBerry
http://www.maryfrancesberry.com/

Susan K Whitbourne, Professor Emirata, Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
https://twitter.com/swhitbo

#space #astrophysics #spacescience #astronomy

Thanks to technological advances, the study of space is becoming increasingly exciting. Not only that, but the technologies being developed for space exploration are finding their way into our homes; think memory foam, freeze drying, cochlear implants…

Jedida Isler, astrophysicist and assistant professor, Darmouth College, USA
https://twitter.com/jedidahislerphd?lang=en
http://jedidahislerphd.com/

Abigail Harrison, aspiring astronaut and founder of The Mars Generation, USA
https://twitter.com/AstronautAbby
https://www.facebook.com/AstronautAbby/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCabX4I5PLAu0I05gN0ZgrKw
https://www.astronautabby.com/

Andrew Radar, SpaceX Engineer with a PhD in aerospace engineering, USA
https://twitter.com/marsrader
https://www.facebook.com/Rader.Andrew/
https://www.andrew-rader.com/

Katie Mack, astrophysicist and theoretical cosmologist, NC State University, USA
https://twitter.com/AstroKatie
http://www.facebook.com/astrokatie
https://www.instagram.com/academicnomad/
http://www.astrokatie.com/

Read more about this:

Check out our articles to find more researchers working in the field you are interested in: https://futurumcareers.com/articles