RSEARCH MATTERS
Social Media and Outreach Manager
My science communication journey began in 2015 with Research Matters, then known as the Science Media Centre at IISc, as a freelance science writer. I was later involved in a full-time Social Media and Outreach Manager role, where I not only crafted engaging popular science articles but also spearheaded the company's social media presence and developed outreach materials. This included working on the design and illustration of upcoming Research Matters books. From articles and infographics to animations and videos, I actively contributed to a diverse range of SciComm content, often juggling writing, illustration, and design duties. It was always more fun than work.
INDIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Content Editor – Digital Communication
I was primarily responsible for content development. I managed the website content, social media pages and also worked for event promotion. I coordinated the planning and execution of various national level events including workshops and symposia. Additionally, I was also involved in various communications roles including writing press releases, content writing, content editing, rapporteuring and handling official email correspondences. I have spent quite a while copyediting articles for the Journal of Earth System Sciences. It is my role in this organisation that strengthened my wings of a freelance career in scientific content.
INSTITUTE OF BIOINFORMATICS
Research Student
I worked initially with Dr Kavita Reddy on Next Generation Sequencing of hereditary and sporadic Pituitary adenoma cases and Familial Primary Immuno Deficiency. Following this, I moved up to work with Dr Remya Raja on the investigation of induction of Epithelial–Mesenchymal transitions following exposure of normal human cell line of oesophagal origin to smokeless tobacco extract. I was also working with Dr Harsha Gowda on mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of retinopathy of prematurity. I also carried out literature-based curation and analysis of Osteopontin–mediated signalling in cells. Basically what I was doing was a whole lot of western blotting, PCRs, whole-exome data analysis, clinical study, Pubmed scouring and sample preparation for MS-based proteomics. While I loved it there, there was also a sinking realisation that I didn't belong. I quit.
BANGALORE UNIVERSITY
Project Student
My first science research position ever! Boy was this exciting for me. I worked in the Centre of Applied Genetics under Dr N J Shetty. My project was the analysis of the larvicidal activity of crude extracts of Eucalyptus globulus and Centella asiatica leaf extracts against two mosquito vector species – Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi. Here, I was responsible for the maintenance of the insectary – I had to clean mosquito cages, feed them, and basically maintain their everlasting cycle – egg to larvae to pupae to adults. God, I hated those creatures. Besides maintenance, my actual project taught me the basics of literature survey, study design and scientific writing. This was where I realised that writing was a skill, one that I am good at. This is also where I first realised that I found scicomm to be more exciting that science.
BRAINSTARS Pvt. Ltd.
Associate Specialist