Last time we talked to Lynette Strickland, she told us all about the work that she was doing to show that tortoise beetles, which vary greatly in their appearances, are actually one species. We play some of that conversation but then we catch up with Lynette to press further into the beauty and importance of diversity within a species. And it’s a short step from talking about beetles to talking about humans. Lynette tells some of her own stories that highlight the ways that science as a discipline can benefit from increased diversity and inclusion. 

Lynette Strickland received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M. Her research focuses on how ecological factors and genomic factors shape a naturally-occurring color polymorphism in a species of Neotropical tortoise beetle and her work has been published in journals including Science and Hereditary.

Without Inclusion, diversity initiatives may not be enough, Science Magazine

Why Black Lives Matter for Science and Faith, video recording (with Lynette Strickland)

The first part of this interview is from episode 19, broadcast on October 3, 2019.

Find a conversation about this episode at the BioLogos Forum.