In this episode, PhD candidate Blakely Lockhart and mentor Michael Nestor, PhD, discuss how mentorship can help early-career scientists navigate the evolving intersection of research, policy, industry, and public engagement. Their conversation explores risk-taking, science communication, and systems thinking, as well as the value of mentoring relationships that create opportunity and allow both people to grow within a changing career landscape.
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Michael Nestor: I
Michael Nestor: I used to say, when I ran my own research lab, my job in all of this is to clear the runway. You're the planes. You know you want to land it. But, but I need to get in there and I need to clear all the brush and I need to do all that so that you have a way to land the plane in a way that you see fit. I'm not the pilot of your plane and I don't want to be that. What I want to be able to do is enable you.
Podcast Narrator: Welcome to Think Alike?, a podcast from Neuronline that delves into the art and science of mentorship within the neuroscience community. Neuronline is the Society for Neuroscience's home for learning and discussion. Join or renew your SfN membership to be a part of the premier neuroscience community that's pushing the field forward, Support your career and advance the field alongside your peers. With year round unlimited access to expert -led webinars, SfN annual meeting perks and many other benefits. Become a member of the Society for Neuroscience or rejoin today membership. This episode's guests are mentor Dr. Michael Nestor and mentee Blakely Lockhart.
Blakely Lockhart: Hi, my name is Blakely Lockhart and I am a third year PhD candidate at Virginia Tech, specifically in the Translational Biology, Medicine and Health program which focuses on translating basic research into population level impact. And I am in the Maternal Influence on Neurodevelopment lab. So I study how babies, grow and develop and how their moms influence that. And I specifically am interested in this intersection between, between science and policy. And that's why we're here. So now I'm going to pass it to my mentor.
Michael Nestor: Great, well, my name is Michael Nestor, I'm a neuroscientist by training, but my career has moved across a number of different systems, including academia where I started, then into nonprofit research, then into industry and now science policy. So that's, I like to talk about that as the Venn diagram of my career. I started out doing basic neuroscience, trained as an electrophysiologist and then stem cell, research. I eventually built one of the early human brain organoid platforms to study neurodevelopmental disorders. And then from there I moved to more translational and applied environments, alsoincluding, my last two roles. So the one before this was Johnson & Johnson's Innovation JLabs where I was evaluating early stage, biotech companies and thinking about how science becomes, products and commercialization. And then more recently I've been working at the National Academy of Sciences, where I help, to lead a national roundtable called GUIPRR: Government University Industry Philanthropy Research Roundtable, where we think about, the future of the US innovation, and research, development ecosystem, and we bring together leadership across the country to really talk about those. And I know spend a lot of time not just doing science, but trying to understand how science operates within these larger structures, funding systems, incentives, and institutions. And so mentorship underscores all of that. Without mentorship, without these relationships, both peer to peer, but more importantly mentor to mentee, we don't have the developmental pipeline that leads to any of the stuff that I just described. And I know that Blakely, you and I connected on that really early when we first met.So. So, maybe I'll hand off to you to talk about what you wanted out of the relationship, coming into it. Then I could talk a little bit about my approach and we'll go back and forth.
Blakely Lockhart: Definitely. Well, I'll start with how we met, which is that, the Society for Neuroscience has an Early Career Policy Ambassador program and I was a part of that program in 2025. So actually we met about a year ago now, now that I think about it. And part of that program is to be matched with a mentor. And so it was really exciting getting to meet Michael because, what I wanted out of a mentor is somebody who's been in the space between, science and policy and industry and government and academia, and to help provide guidance in that route, because that route is largely uncharted. And and I definitely don't have anybody in my sphere who can speak to science policy, who can speak to that relationship with industry. And so what I wanted out of it was guidance. A lot of my questions are to Michael are about guidance forward or different opportunities. And so that's initially what I came to the table wanting.
Michael Nestor: I think that what you just described is something that I think is so important for the mentor and mentee relationship and that sort of self awareness and self directedness right from the very beginning. I think that, you know, and to be frank with you, and you know this because we've talked about plenty of times... It's been challenging for me, to even navigate these fears. Right? So I, I try to have a life that's at the intersection of translational neuroscience, where I still do stem cell research and national science policy. And just with balancing the conflict of interest between those alone is a challenge, let alone the stigma that you get. When you're in one room and you'relooked at a policy, you're looked at as a policy person and not a real scientist. And then you're in the scientific room, and they say, what the heck are you doing with policy? Right? So I think there's a lot of stigma around this, and you came with that because you had a really unique background in that. And I would love folks to hear about that a little bit more, because I think that was something that I thought was really cool. But maybe I'll say that, you know,
00:05:00
Michael Nestor: I think that the way mentorship has evolved, you know, especially over the last five years, but really, really, really specifically over the last two, not only with what's happening in the larger sphere of science policy, but with AI, the traditional model of mentorship is just gone. So, you know, it cannot be, "Let me tell you what happened in my career, and then you can learn from that." I know you knew that right from the beginning. Right? It's more, you know, "What exactly can I do to give you access or opportunities or,experiences?" And let's just be frank about it: "What can I do to provide you with things that will ultimately lead to a job for you?" youknow, ifthat's what you want. And so I think one of the things that I really appreciated about you, Blakely, and still do, is that, and I think this is something that I think mentees need to think really strongly about. I think we're trained to feel kind of icky about the idea of it being kind of we use the word transactional in terms of a mentor mentee relationship. I wouldn't say transactional. You just came into it driven with the idea of, like, I need this, this, and this. And that helped me pull from my experience to sort of help open opportunities where I could for you. So maybe I'd love to throw it back to you because you have such a unique background, and I think, yeah, folks really need to hear about that, because that'sreally cool. And, Yeah, I don't know if you want to pick up on that.
Blakely Lockhart: Yeah, yeah, I can share because I think, once again, once I shared my background in our initial meeting, it was like, ah, ah. Everything clicked of why we were partnered together As mentor - mentee. So, I, did my undergrad at Christopher Newport University, and I studied neuroscience and leadership. And while I was there, I had reactivated the NAACP chapter on my campus. And, my senior year, and it was in the wake of George Floyd's murder. And that launched me into a world of activism that I had previously not known. I mean, I've always been a little activist, but that was a different scale with media and, policies, for our university as well as the community. And so when I graduated, I got a phone call asking me to run for the Virginia House of Delegates for the former 56th district. And, I, you know, I was naive. I was 22, and I said yes. But I think it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I wasn't running to win. I was running to change up. Who typically runs and can we do things differently? Can we, just try new things and see what happens from that? So it was an incredibly unique experience. We made a lot of waves, we turned a lot of heads, we changed up some, some viewpoints, I could say, in our district.
Michael Nestor: And I think that one of the things we connected on was in this new era that we're in, the idea that you're being disruptive is wanted by so many of these institutions. But then they get somebody that actually does it and they don't understand how to handle it.
Blakely Lockhart: Exactly. I definitely shook things up, and people said that they wanted that. And then when we came in and did it, you face so much pushback in that. because we're changing these typical structures of how, you know, we did things. And by just being informed and being young, that threatened a lot of the structures that were in place. or. And I would also say just willing to learn. I should put it that way. Like, I was willing to learn the system, and then learning where to push boundaries with. And so, after that, and looking at the policies that were in place and assessing the policies that were in place, that's when I realized there's a whole need gap that's here. But for scientists that we need to focus on, thinking through things in a translational way, and providing for the community in a better way so that it's not me telling you what's happening in a condescending way like, oh, you don't know things, but me breaking it down. Because if it's not your specialty, then of course you're not going to know it. And I think there's some, like, hoity-toity-ness that some neuroscientists can have with that a little bit.
Michael Nestor: Well, I mean, what you're articulating is a huge generational divide in the systems. Right? And I think that's where this, the relationship and how to navigate that requires more of the mentee in this way, because you have to think through all of that dynamic and come to the relationship with a clear vision of like, what you want to get from that. Now, that doesn't absolve the mentor, and I'm going to talk about that in a minute. But, but I think like, the story you're telling is one, you know, where we're living inside systems of systems and systems of change right now in neuroscience, but in the greater sphere, you represented a reaction to a historical event which led you to a series of actions which create, an element that people say they want. But then when you get inside and actually start doing it, you can begin to see the real sort of like, I would say, you know, divide in terms of culture, depending on what age group you come from and what your experience of science has been. Yeah, that's where this relationship really I think is important
00:10:00
Michael Nestor: because in some sense what we've asked folks to do in your, at your stage, you know, and I'm, I'm still early mid career, I wouldn't even call myself mid career at this point, so I'm still feeling a little bit of that. They've shifted the risk model onto us without giving us any of the sort of structure to absorb that risk. There's actually books on this were written about 30 years ago. There's called the Innovator's Dilemma. And the whole point of it is you live inside systems that ask for change, but then you're evaluated on how that change occurs by the same system, which is inherently biased and is going to try to get rid of the change you're making. And so this relationship for us was more like less about, you know, hey, let me tell you what I did and more I, at least from my perspective. And this is where the mentor has to really comewith doing their homework. More about thinking, helping you think on a systems level about how all these pieces fit together. Right? Soit's not just funding, it's not just institutional incentives, but it's what does your career arc look like in the modern era? You know, how can you pull all of these different threads to build, sort of a, you know, a career story that makes sense, that gives you direction for the future. and most importantly, like, what practically could, can I do for you to provide opportunities for you to sort of test and experiment with some of the stuff you had been doing, some of the stuff you want to do, and then get some data and feedback in a risk deferred, way. In a way that is of no risk to you so that those things don't come back and potentially blow back on you early in your career. Right? And I think, that's. That's where the mentor has to come in and say, I've got to be willing to, you know, on my end, do some things that might instill a little bit of risk. You know, say, you know, invite somebody to a meeting that they probably should have been invited to normally. Well, not should have, but that's not a great way to say it. But, you know, that wouldn't be right?
Blakely Lockhart: Normally I wouldn't be We're not in the room for those types of conversations. And I think that, honestly, the whole experience of running for office and trying to serve the community forced me almost to be able to apply everything that I just learned in that of, like, synthesizing everything. How do you sit in the room with these people who do make these top decisions and who do have a lot of influence...
Michael Nestor: And more importantly, Blakely, who may not agree with you.
Blakely Lockhart: And who may not agree with you on literally anything. On literally anything. Yes. and. And present in a. I, think for me at least, it's presenting in a way that you're not distracted by my age, that you're not distracted by my race, you're not distracted that I'm a woman. Because what I have to say is important enough to be listening to. And. And so that when I contribute, I contribute with substance, with evidence, with a very thoughtful way, an intentional way of approaching things. And honestly, I feel like that's kind of even what I did for our relationship is I was like, okay, wow, I've been, like, partnered with this incredible mentor. I need to have myself together, come prepared to the table, to our meetings. Being like, this is what I've done. This is where I think I need help, or I just don't know how to go about something. And that's typically what I was asking you. and this is what I was thinking of doing more. So long term, does that even fit? So coming prepared so that the normal things that would limit me are not present in that moment.
Michael Nestor: If anything, I would say too, you know, I think that part of this role is, not just career advice, but also, you're thinking about how to listen to your story and say, okay, you and I come from very different backgrounds. You know, I'm not a woman. You know, I'm not a woman of color. I've had a very different experience in science, although I've taken my slings and arrows as well. But how can I use what's available to me after I've listened to you, like, really intentionally listened to you and understood where I think you want to go? How can I use those opportunities to help you bring out, the qualities and the things that you want to achieve, in a way that's de- risked? I'm using risk a lot because I think it'sreally important in this era of AI and change in science and change in science funding. Let's just be real about it. People feel like they are protecting territory. You know, whether they do it consciously, subconsciously, whether they're just worried about their job, whether they're thinking about the future of AI and neuroscience, whether they wonder, you know, if funding is going to occur. We're in an era where risk is really part of
00:15:00
Michael Nestor: the scientific identity in a way that I don't think it was for our, our predecessors. I think that requires from the mentor really intentionally listening, not only I think, and you could tell me if I'm wrong, but trying to, like, understand, you know, deeply, like, what you're saying and what's between the lines, you know, like. Because I feel like part of the, the idea here is to help you connect the dots where you're connecting the dots. You know, I'm just sort of like a guide, you know?
Blakely Lockhart: Which is really needed because I think especially when you're young, you're starting out, you're doing all these different things. As I said, I mean, I literally graduated and then started my campaign. And initially that didn't make sense in my head. I was like, my story does not make sense to people. And I know that. And I have to figure out a way to, like, bridge, bridge it all together, all these points together and, and, not only to communicate my own beliefs and my own, you know, skills, but also just for others to be able to interpret it in a way that makes sense to, to them and that can be relatable to them. And so I will say I think that we've done that actually through our, our sessions together is, is me going, ah, here's my story. I'm confident in it now. I know exactly where I was, now where I am, and where I want to "ish" go. "Ish" because, you know, world's on fire. The world's on fire.
Michael Nestor: It's always a work in progress for all of us.
Blakely Lockhart: Always, always. But in general, my, story makes a lot more sense to me because of our mentorship and you kind of pulling those things out. And I also just want to, thank you, because I think that's what really good mentorship does, is assess your story, but assess your skills. Where's the strengths, where's the weaknesses? And then giving me an opportunity. Yes. Me not having risk, you absorbing some of that risk, to try and, to try and, develop new skills or maybe strengthen some weaker ones. and you've absolutely done that, and pointed me in a direction with it. So thank you.
Michael Nestor: My job isn'tto, challenge for challenge sake. It's, it's more to,let you, you drive the relationship here. You know, and, and what I'm. What I used to say when I, when I ran my own research lab, I used to say, you know, my job in all of this is to clear the runway. You're the planes, you know, you want to land it. But, but I need to get in there and I need to clear all the brush and I need to do all that so that you have a way to land the plane in a way that you see fit. I'm not the pilot of your plane, and I don't want to be that. What I want to be able to do is enable you to discover and to work on the things that you think are the most passionate, even if they ultimately disagree with the things that I think are important. And soI think this is so important to the future, so I'll get a little grandiose on you because, you know, that's. I can do that from time to time. We're thinking about the future of the US research and innovation ecosystem. Right? And we're thinking about it in a world now where we see federal funding that's getting down to 40%. And we see all these blossoming of philanthropy and all this hope that industry is going to step in. They're not going to fully be able to make up for, for, for, for what we're losing on the federal side. And, and, and that may not be a consistent thing on the funding side, but, but it's going to be for a while. And soin order to develop, some people are looking, you know, what is how to develop future workforce, how to develop future talent in, in STEM. This is how you do it. And I think for a really good mentoring relationship to think about the future of, like, our innovation ecosystem built to build a new sort of, you know, STEM workforce that's enabled that's young, that's moving, that wants to change things, and sort of, you know, move the needle. Especially in the academic centers, we have a whole conversation about how we need to reorganize universities. You got to have conversations with people one on one, one at a time, understand them and not look at them like a spreadsheet. And that's kind of whatyou're saying too, and why I was so excited to work with you because I could see that when we first met that you've, you've been a little, you've had a little experience.
Blakely Lockhart: Yeah, yeah, but getting to what you were just saying of like individually looking at these different groups that are this next generation of scientists and how can we, you know, try, as you said, like clear the runway for them? Which once again have to highlight an example of you doing so for me, which was inviting me to GUIPRR. And that experience was absolutely, transformational for me and I appreciate it because you let me still be me while I was there. You weren't trying
00:20:00
Blakely Lockhart: to micromanage or see what I was doing or you know, you just let me do or use the skills that I am good at, which is networking. So while, yeah, I'm flying the plane, like, I don't know, you're in the tower, still giving me, you know, support and instructions. Like I, for, for instance, you know, I had sat down at a table and I don't know who people are at the table and you sat down next to me really briefly and looked at the people I was with and you were like, "You should be asking her a lot of questions. She has a really unique background that I think you all will find fascinating." Your provide a little bit of support, but still allowing me to develop and take the conversation in different directions for what I needed in that moment. It allowed me to expand with that network of people in ways that I absolutely could have done with more time, but it would have taken a lot more effort and work. So I appreciate you doing that. Exactly. That's what it was providing the support. You're still letting me do things.
Michael Nestor: You taught me again to come back to this as bi -directional. And it's as much an honor for me to help you as it, I imagine it is in the reverse is that, you know, you taught me a lot about, where I could potentially have been heavy handed. Right? So I had to think, I had to think about things like that. You know, I was sort of quote unquote, raised in the traditional science mentorship mentee relationships. So I have. I mean, to practice what I preach, I have to learn it, too. And I'm learning it as we go. And I think thatthat is the other thing I want to emphasize is that this whole model has been flipped on its head in terms of dynamics. Right? Because we're colleagues now in a. In a shared journey through science. It's not... Yeah, okay. I've got a couple of years on you, and I've done some really stupid things that I can tell you not to do. You know, alluding to this whole change the institution all in, like a year type of stuff, because that's just how I roll. It's like, why are we waiting? I don't care about the 50 years of whatever, we're going now! Right? I've learned that. But jokes aside, and it's not really that much of a joke, but, you know, I think that where this, I think, lands, especially again, coming back to AI where we're at in the reality of everything, is that we are. We are co travelers on a journey together, Blakely. And I really. I really believe that. And, you know, yeah, again, I have a couple years of experience on you, but that doesn't mean that I have some sort of insight that, you know, I can bestow upon you. I think we're helping each other. I like to, Again, to use another analogy, and I over analogize, but, you know, it's like that video where you see people climbing up a mountain where they're sort of handing, you know, one person takes a couple steps up, and then they kind of come back and they pull the other person up with them, and they take a couple steps ahead of the other person. That's the way I see this journey. And so, that requires a different type of relationship because it requires a lot of vulnerability for me as the mentor to be able to say, Blakely, I screwed up. I ran my mouth too much at some meeting and upset this person, and now I'm in it. Here's what I'm going through. Don't do that Like to talk about your own foibles and vulnerability. Now, not everybody's comfortable with that. Right? And so, you know, that. And that's the other thing I'd say as a mentor is one of the things that we're challenged with, especially those of us who mentor more on the empathetic side of the coin, is that we have to really figure out where that balance lies. And I think you helped me learn a little bit more about that, because you and I are really connected on many ways and we could go really fast. But not everybody I mentor is like that, you know.
Blakely Lockhart: Well, and that's true too. And I was just going to briefly touch on that that I think, the way that we approach problems and approach the experiences we've been through is very similar. And that is not always the case for a lot of people. And I mean I even heard this with other mentees and mentors. And whereasI'm like, I'm having a great time, I'm learning so much. And it's because we are aligned in certain ways that in the way that I make sure that I'mprepared and I know what I need. You also are thinking through all of those things, and opportunities I guess to, to provide in that structure for us really works. But it's definitely not what everybody does. And so I really appreciate you talking about that it is bi -directional because it absolutely feels like I have not provided you anything and that you have given me so many opportunities. But I think we just have different insights in different areas, but they complement each other really well. So that when we talk about or we get into these nitty gritty, oh God, the state of, you know, academic funding, then we can pull on experiences and kind of start to chart what the next steps could be moving forward for me, which is
00:25:00
Blakely Lockhart: very different than I think what a lot of other people, even in my other mentors, if I'm being honest, you know that they are so one track, this is what you're doing, minded that that with the current state of the world and you need to adapt and they're not adapting that it's almost as if I can outgrow them in certain ways. But your adaptability, your flexibility, your life experience. Yes. In pivoting in all these different ways is exactly what I need to hear about. So I do appreciate listening to your, your life experiences and everything and you pulling on different stories for advising. because it is so uncharted. And also just in general, science policy is not well discussed or thought of. So you already taking some steps in that direction is huge. And that mentorship, because once again I won't receive that anywhere else.
Michael Nestor: Well, and, and I mean the, the truth is too that like, you know, being vulnerable in mentorship is really important, but you have to know when to turn that up and turn that down. And I think that relationship you're teaching me and every relationship that I have when I work with different mentees, thatthat's teaching me how to, to balance that. I mean, you know, I, I think it's unfair for mentors in this day and age and maybe. And again, this is a personal belief, so people may disagree with this, but to present some sort of like, "Hey, I. This is my path, and, you know, this is what I did, and this is how you can do it too." I would be remiss if I didn't say that, like, I don't know what I'm doing. Like, I'm fumbling through this. I've. I, like, I, you know, I've got this Venn diagram and I've presented that. But, like, you know, I'm uncertain at times. I'vemade. I continue to make steps outside of my own comfort zone that sometimes backfire. And I want to be able to share that with you. Not so much to say, like, don't make this same mistake, but more to say, you know, this is what's out there, you know, if you really want to be a. And a change agent, you know. And I think, you know, I'm in the sort of X- ennial space, right? And so I sit between the Boomer generation that I think, quite frankly, is really challenging to, trying to hold on to legacy science. And then the younger generations, I don'tknow, they would be Gen Z, Millennials, are probably in the. That really are like, no, we gotta change this thing now, right? And so my job really is to sort of share with you my vulnerabilities and my challenges so that you can at least see that when you live in the lane of trying to transform science, that there are consequences and that you can't avoid all of those if you really want to make a stand. If we're all in this sort of boat where we really feel like these systems have to change, they have to get. Serve us as scientists better, serve our country as an innovation ecosystem better, then we have to be willing to step out and take personal risk. And that is really hard because there is very real career, personal blowback to that that you have to think through. And that does require that sort of like, hey, we're in this together. Let's have a side conversation. Maybe youdon't want to do that. Activism right now, all of that kind of stuff, is important, and I learned from that too. and I'll give you one example, ah, of that really briefly, is that I push, you know, me. I, you know, I, I'm smart about it, I'm diplomatic. You know, you build up that skill set when you're a change agent to know where the lines are, where the red lines are. Right? I do step over them from time to time. And one of the things that you taught me was that, you know, given where you're at in your career, I was like, hey, let's. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. And you had started talking about this fellowship that you had gotten, and I was like, oh, wait a minute. You know, it's not all, like, gone in the academic space. You know, in my mind, I'd started to get to this place where it's like, okay, look, we got to blow this whole thing up. We got to build centers. We got to stop with majors. We got to start. And you're, like, talking to me about how excited you are about this very traditional, fellowship you're doing this. And it was like, Michael, slow your roll, dude. Like, slow your roll.
Blakely Lockhart: There are some good pieces left, right?
Michael Nestor: So that there is that back and forth. And I think that is really important in this.
Blakely Lockhart: Do you think we think alike?
Michael Nestor: I think. No, I don't think we think alike. Which is.That's exactly why it's good.
Blakely Lockhart: That was going to be my answer was, actually, I don't think we think alike. And that's why this works. It makes me grow. It makes you grow.
Michael Nestor: That's Right? Yeah. But, you know, I guess. I know we're
00:30:00
Michael Nestor: almost out of time. I want to hand the mic really over to you just to ask you, like, you know, if you had to reduce this to sort of, you know, mentorship should create forward motion. It should create opportunity. It should getjobs. Is there anything, that's my perspective on what I think. Is there anything that you learned out of the ECPA program or our relationship that you didn't hear me say that you, you picked up? That is very-could even be, like, Blakely specific. But, like, you know, you've got so much experience. You know, how did this connect the dots for you?
Blakely Lockhart: That is a loaded question.
Michael Nestor: That's what I do.
Blakely Lockhart: That's what you want to end on, of making me think this through. I. I know. I think you. You covered a lot of it. I think, from. From the mentee side, it is often really hard to find people who are constantly looking at the bigger picture, instead of getting really niche with something, and. And that would be one of the biggest things that I've learned from you, is to kind of step back into looking at all of these different ecosystems and how they work together. Yes, I know this, but I think as a student in particular, it is really hard to see. It is so hard to see that I feel like I'm banging down my own walls trying to make sure that I'm continually seeing this. Because otherwise, especially right now, it can be a lot of doom and gloom. And what I'm reminded with when we talk is about the other opportunities that exist, the other ways to adapt and pivot. And so, I just encourage everybody to try and find at least one mentor who can do that for you. And I mean, yes, it's great to have the niche and make sure that you're moving forward on certain projects and in certain ways, but having somebody who's really looking at the whole you and advancing your skill set and your development for the long term, not for the, not for the short term. Because I, I don't view our relationship as a short term thing. And I appreciate that. We had a conversation about that at the end of being an ECPA. I was like, can we stay in contact? And you were like, yeah, this is going to keep going. I'm really grateful for that. Because you do see my goals and you see them holistically instead of just kind of reducing me down into this one category ofI'm a student, I'm a grad student, and I do grunt work. So I just, I really appreciate that. I hope that everybody else can find at least one person to do that that's not a family member. That is not a family member.
Michael Nestor: Right.
Blakely Lockhart: Somebody who's, you know, doing the things, doing the impossible. Because as I said, you're. You are actively showing me that I don't have to choose the way that people are telling me I have to choose.
Michael Nestor: You build this. It is, it is. Clearly, when I was a kid, I'm going to date myself, we had these books called choose your own adventure. And that's what this is. It ultimately is you in this new era. Systems thinking, building the narrow, the trees, and also looking at the forest simultaneously figuring out how all that works for you, putting that together and realizing that, yeah, you're right, this is where I would love to end on. I know times we've been a little bit negative, but you have to be a little bit negative to understand how much positive there is out there. I mean, this, all these challenges to our system have now revealed just how wide open this thing is. But it just requires you to go get it. If you want to tie quantum biosensors to brain organoids, hint, hint, that's kind of whatI'm thinking about right now. Go do it. You just got to get yourself in the room and do it and not be afraid. It's easier said than done. Yeah.
Blakely Lockhart: It's a chance for opportunities. It's a chance for opportunities, and I think you've positioned that to me and kind of pulled me out of my spiral a little bit that I think every student has been feeling over the past year, or potential student, if you're thinking about becoming a student. And I really appreciate that a lot. So thank you.
Podcast Narrator: We hope this conversation inspired you as you navigate your own mentorship journey. This podcast is brought to you by Neuronline, SfN's home for learning and discussion, where you can find a variety of additional professional development resources and opportunities to connect with other neuroscientists. Check out the link in the show notes to learn more. Think Alike? is produced by Amanda Kimball, Adam Katz, Cashen Almstead, Taylor Johnson, Emily O'Connor, Dominique Giles, and Marie Dussauze. Thanks for listening.
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