Life-changing science
Tags: Herpetology, Science, Ecology, Ecology And Environment, Eco

Art with pictures of Michele (a young latina woman with short and curly black hair) and Bertha (a white woman with short hair, shown in different black and white pictures) and the title: “Life-changing science — presenting: Bertha Lutz and Michele Dechoum”, and the logos from UFSC and POSECO. Art by João Miguel, made in Canva.

This text was written by Bruno Miranda as part of the final project for the Ecology Lectures course (ECO510031), at the Graduate Program in Ecology (POSECO) from the Santa Catarina Federal University — Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC). It is a complementary text to the one published at POSECO’s Instagram page (@ppgeco.ufsc).

Introduction

Not only is Ecology the science of living organisms and of how they relate to each other and to their environments, it is also a field of knowledge built through entire lifetimes of work and dedication, and has the potential to change the lives of communities and society as a whole. In the Life-changing Science series of posts, we are going to talk about the stories behind the careers of two brilliant brazilian researchers, one from the past and one from the present, and discuss how their work has changed their lives and the lives of people and other organisms around them.

The progress of Science in Brazil has always happened under huge challenges, low income, and the lack of recognition of their workers as essential to the development of the country. Despite that, some scientists demonstrate an incredible capacity for dealing with adversities and become references for young researchers. In this post, we’re going to present a researcher whose career is an example for generations to come.

2. Bertha Lutz

In the first half of the 21st century, women were restricted to house chores and to support their husbands’ lives. This context makes the story of Bertha Lutz even more impressive. Bertha Lutz was a botanist, zoologist, lawyer, translator, feminist, and educator, who has made invaluable contributions not only to the study of frogs and toads, but also to the fight for women’s right to vote and for quality public education.

Daughter of zoologist Adolfo Lutz and nurse Amy Fowler, Bertha studied Biology at Sorbonne. Back in Brazil, in 1918, she was the second woman to work in the public sector in Brazil, as a biologist in the National Museum. In this position, she became a prominent herpetologist, even discovering a new species of frog: Paratelmatobius lutzii.

Although Bertha was a relevant researcher, she is better known for the fight for women’s rights to vote and to have access to education. Her contacts with feminist movements in England while in college inspired her to create the Call for Women’s Intellectual Emancipation. She also organized the first Feminist Congress in Brazil, and helped found the Brazilian Federation for the Progress of Women, whose main goal was assuring women’s right to vote. Their fight was rewarded in 1932, when that right was recognized by the brazilian government. As an educator, Bertha Lutz believed in quality public education for all, and in 1922, she facilitated the enrollment of girls in Colegio Pedro II, one of the most traditional schools at the time.

In 2021, we still owe a lot to Bertha Lutz. Her legacy as an herpetologist, the feminist rights she fought for, the development of science and education. Even in these days, tributes to her are still happening, like in Zoology, where a species of frog (Aplastodicus lutzorum) and one of ray (Hypanus berthalutzea) were named on her behalf. She was responsible for breaking ground for the following generations of female researchers in Ecology. Our next post will take a look at the life, career, and impact of one of these contemporary researchers.

3. Michele de Sá Dechoum

The story of a scientist in the XXIth century sometimes is really straightforward. For researcher Michele de Sá Dechoum, however, the academic career was one of many paths she walked throughout her life. The beginning of Michele’s story is similar to that of many biologists. Her passion for nature comes from her childhood, exploring natural beauties from Rio de Janeiro, and wishing to become a ranger park to protect wildlife.

“I guess [I have been interested in nature] since I was born”, she says. “My sister and I used to visit my cousins in Barra da Tijuca every weekend during our childhood. At that time (the 80’s), this region of Rio de Janeiro was quite wild, and we used to explore the nature that was around.”

After some doubts about the career during youth, she decided to be an Ecologist by influence of her biologist teacher. “I started playing basketball and changed my mind about my profession. (…) I was not sure about which career I would choose when I finished high school, but my Biology teacher had a great influence in my decision to study Biology. I was fascinated with genetics and evolution when I started my undergraduate course. But I figured out that I would have to spend too many hours in a lab if I was to be a geneticist. I like to be outdoors and Ecology was as fascinating as Genetics with the benefit of being outdoors observing nature.”

Like some students today, Michele finished her undergraduate studies frustrated with academia. “[My career] doesn’t have a linear trajectory. After finishing my undergraduate studies I was quite frustrated with academia. So I decided to work as a consultant for a year before going back to do my Master’s.” But, although the conditions as a graduate student and researcher are not easy in Brazil, it is the passion for knowledge that keeps bringing professionals to the area. And so it happened to Michele. After experiencing jobs as consultant, and working for governmental and non-governmental organizations, she went back for the Ph.D in 2011 and a postdoc in 2015, when she finally got a permanent position at UFSC. She says this time away from academia was essential to her development as a professional. “In my case, it was very important to have professional experiences outside of academia in order to understand how my research can have an impact on society and on nature conservation. Applied ecology makes a lot of sense to me and that is my main research interest.”

For the last 16 years, Michele has been working with biological invasions. Although it’s important, it is a poorly known field, which her lab has been helping give light to. “My lab team and I have been raising awareness about it especially through our outreach projects.” She has been collaborating with the Horus Institute, which is the main reference for policymakers and the public in Brazil when it comes to biological invasions. “I have been working as the comanager of the national database on invasive alien species since 2008”. Michele’s lab has been working to provide scientific background for the development of public policies, as well as developing tools for the management of invasive alien species. “I usually consider the demands of local managers for the definition of my research priorities in order to provide answers and guidelines to real problems regarding invasive alien species and restoration of ecosystems”.

Since 2010, Michele’s research team developed a volunteer program whose main objective is to recover the Restinga environments through community engagement. This project has already recovered two hundred acres of Restinga and recently, it was a finalist for support from the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA). Michele actively engaged people to vote for her initiative in the contest, whose support was decided based on a virtual voting. Michele’s efforts show us that she has the potential for a brilliant career, and her capacity of engagement can be seen in the success of online voting that is responsible for her volunteering program winning the EOCA contest.

Michele says her work as a researcher and professor in Ecology is “part of who she is”. “I am so passionate for my job, for what I have been doing as a researcher and a professor as well, that it is very difficult for me to understand my profession as something that is apart from my essence.”

4. Conclusion

Being a woman in science in Brazil nowadays is a hard task. With science budgets dropping every year, the conditions to elaborate research are especially harsh for women, despite the fact that they are the majority of scientists in the country. Fortunately, we still have people who draw inspiration from Bertha’s and Michele’s careers to keep fighting for science for all, and for better conditions for women in science. A hundred years ago, it took thirteen years for Bertha Lutz to see the change she wanted, from the creation of the Call for Women’s Intellectual Emancipation to the permission to vote. In our days, it took two and a half years of fighting in order to assure women’s right to register their maternity leaves on the Lattes Curriculum. Here’s hoping that, together, we manage to change lives and benefit both nature and society with our work as researchers.