#14: Science, Depression, and Founding Something Great

In this episode, I'm speaking with Dr. Susanna Harris about science, depression, and founding something great.

We discuss:

•Her journey towards science and why she ended up choosing a PhD in microbiology.
•The research that she conducted throughout her tenure as a PhD student and how it has the potential to positively impact society when it comes to feeding our growing population.
•Her mental health adversities in graduate school and how she struggled to find the support that she needed during this time from her department.
•The origin story for her mental health support platform PhD Balance built for and moderated by graduate students.
•How she found herself as an accidental entrepreneur.
•The parallels between conducting research and entrepreneurialism.
•As a recent graduate, what her plans are moving forward.
•And other topics.

Dr. Susanna Harris is a passionate microbiologist, entrepreneur, and science communicator. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in microbiology from Iowa University and she just graduated this past spring with her PhD in microbiology from the University of North Carolina. In March of 2018, she wanted to create a safe space for graduate students to connect with one another and build a community, so she decided to found PhD Balance to empower graduate students to thrive in academia. Over the past couple of years, it has grown rapidly and she now oversees a team of volunteers to support an international community of academics. She also enjoys science communication and the challenge of translating cutting-edge research into accessible and engaging materials for professional and public audiences.

You can find her websites here:

https://susannalharris.com/
https://www.phdbalance.com/

You can find her social media here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusannaLHarris
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SusannaLHarris/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SusannaLHarris

You can find this episode on our YouTube channel as well:

https://youtu.be/n05gwKMxh0I

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