Always have questions about the world around you: Dr. Uusisaari speaks at Nakadomari Jr. High School

On December 19th, Dr. Marylka Yoe Uusisaari, a researcher in the Optical Neuroimaging Unit of OIST, visited Nakadomari Jr. High School in Onna Village to give a talk titled “How do you make a scientist.”

Dr. Uusisaari first introduced about her home country Finland. The students' eyes were glued to beautiful pictures of Finland.

“I was always bothering my mother by asking so many questions about science,” Dr. Uusisaari recalled. She usually could not receive satisfactory answers, so she conducted various experiments to find the answers by herself. “One day, I found a dead bird on the street, and brought it home to dissect,” she said. The students were surprised by the story with their eyes wide open.

When asked by a student whether there are any questions that she still wants to understand, Dr. Uusisaari answered “Although I am a scientist now, I always have things that I wonder why.” She continued, “All of us are scientists in the beginning. So how to become a scientist is not the point, but how to remain being a scientist is an important key.” She appealed to the students to have an interest in what is going on in the world around them all the time.