Ron Vale

What turned you onto science in the first place? I had a wonderful mother (a nonscientist and former actress) who frequently took me to the Natural History Museum and Science and Technology Museum in the Los Angeles area as a young child. I loved these museums and worked at the latter as a high school student; nothing glorious — setting up displays and working cash registers, but I got to hang out at the museum! My father was a fiction writer, but he was inspired by the great questions of science. He ran a high school newspaper with Einstein’s son in Zurich, and went to the great man’s house to ask about the meaning of ‘relativity’. Although Einstein was patient and kind, my father did not understand the answer. But he maintained an interest in cosmology and took me to UCLA extension course lectures on such subjects while I was in high school. Although they were not scientists, my parents both instilled a sense of curiosity during my upbringing. Another turning point involved a high school counselor who helped foster my interest in biology at a crucial time. For a high school biology project, I measured circadian rhythms of leaf movements in bean plants, using a self-built kymograph and a controlled light–dark environment that I set up in my basement. I worked very hard on this project, but for some reason I got a very mediocre ‘B’ grade. My counselor heard about my interest, however, and contacted an emeritus professor at UCLA, Karl Hammer, who allowed me to continue work on this project in his laboratory (the big time!). That experience cemented my interest and career path in biology.