Daniel Colón-Ramos: Observing and making connections

T he nematode C. elegans has exactly 302 neurons, and we know the developmental lineage and physical position of each of these cells within the organism. We also have the " connectome " : a wiring diagram of the C. elegans nervous system that tells us exactly which neurons are connected to each other. We know a lot about the nervous system of this organism, yet we don't know how its neuronal connections are achieved during development. Daniel Colón-Ramos is fascinated by connectivity. As a postdoc (1) and in his own lab (2–5) he has investigated where and how sites of neuronal connection are designated. He also has been a vocal advocate for science, seeking to nurture connections between the scientifi c community and the public, especially in his native Puerto Rico. He kindly took the time to give us the big picture on how everything is connected when we called him at his lab at Yale University. Where did you grow up? My family's from a small town in the center of Puerto Rico called Barranquitas. The climate there is tropical rainforest, so there's a lot of biodiversity, which fostered my deep interest in biology and nature. But I didn't seriously think of pursuing science as a career because I didn't know any scientists. I didn't have the ability to visualize myself as a scientist or as a person capable of doing science. That's something that later inspired my efforts in science advocacy. What are you focusing these efforts on? When I was growing up, it seemed to me that science was something done by other people in other places. I was not sure how science had anything to do with my reality as a kid growing up in Puerto Rico. When I was in graduate school I decided I wanted to help expose Puerto Rican kids to research done by other Hispanic scientists and to explain to them why science is universally important and very relevant to them. I started CienciaPR.org, an organization that uses social networking tools to bring together a geographically dispersed but emotionally connected community of Hispanic scientists. We organize formal science education projects in Puerto Rico and publish articles in newspapers that are used as teaching aids in classrooms. It's been very rewarding to see the reception this has gotten, but doing this has also made me realize that science education needs to be …