Hello, everyone!
I’m Emilie, a bioinformatics graduate student currently studying to become a
biology and mathematics teacher. The teaching program at UiB offers the
flexibility to write a master’s thesis on either a pedagogical or a natural
science-related topic. To get ideas and inspiration, my student advisor
recommended the course BIO299 – Research Practice in Biology.
The course administration has been incredibly flexible with what I could do of
the course. Unsurprisingly, I’m passionate about data science, biology, and
education, and this project allowed me to work with all three! Unlike most students taking BIO299,
my project did not involve lab or fieldwork, and the final scientific product was not a standard
scientific paper.

I was very fortunate to have Sehoya as my supervisor. She provided me with a wide range of project
options to choose from and gave me a clear structure for the semester, explaining her reasoning
behind the steps along the way. Sehoya has been a truly motivating part of this project and has shared  many valuable tips that I will carry with me. Our project involved analyzing survey results from 2023, focusing on questions that had not yet been explored or analyzed. Sehoya made me feel that the project I chose was meaningful and important. Thank you so much, Sehoya!

I learned that the work of a scientist relies on a lot of things. For example, navigating published
literature. Before gaining access to the survey dataset (the «carrot» I was working toward!), I had to
do a significant amount of bibliography work. The timetable I created at the start of the semester
ended up changing a lot, which taught me that projects often evolve as they progress. When my
supervisor and I discussed the course’s scientific product, we came up with the idea of presenting the
results as a chronicle. It was my first time writing a chronicle, which was both challenging and
exciting. I also learned how much scientists rely on their colleagues—it’s important to reach out,
build connections, and seek feedback.

As a future biology teacher this is a very important topic. I want to be able to back up the answers I
give to my own pupils about this topic and be prepared to answer questions related to sexuality, sex
and gender and provide with examples that challenge oversimplified terms used in the field. I’m both
sad that my results showed a “sex and gender”-gap in the current higher ed biology, but I’m
motivated to be a part of a potential change. My fellow biology students and I think this topic is
relevant and important to address.

Fellow students, my supervisor’s colleagues, friends and family were interested, kind, and incredibly
helpful throughout the process!

Target audience for my blog post: Fellow students who want to know more about the BIO299 course, my supervisor, course
administration and friends