Meet Elisa Oliveira da Costa

We caught up with Elisa Oliveira da Costa, one of our speakers from this year’s Soapbox Science Milton Keynes event to ask her some questions in the run-up to the event

Elisa is a second-year PhD student at the Open University. She is funded by the European Union through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions within the FluidNET project. She achieved a BSc in Geology and an MSc in Geochemistry at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil, where her research focused on the constraining pressure and temperature conditions of different metamorphic rocks formed when South America and Africa collided to form Gondwana. Currently, she is investigating how different melting reactions and conditions affect the release of certain critical elements like lithium into the melt, which we then extract by mining.

What the rocks want to tell you

Q: How did you get to your current position?

When I finished my MSc there were about ten PhD positions with projects that I found interesting. I applied to all of them, got five interviews, and finally, one offer!

Q: What, or who, inspired you to get a career in science?

There was no single thing that inspired me, and it took me quite a long time to realise it was what I wanted to do. Before my final year of high school, I wanted to become an engineer because I liked maths and the sciences. Then in my final year, my school organised several presentations from different professionals and the very first talk was from an engineer who talked about how his entire focus was on enhancing the design of a product to optimise profit. I gave up on the idea of getting an engineering degree then and there, but it is funny now how I realise that there is nothing wrong with what that guy does and that not all engineers are the same. Anyway, after his presentation, I concluded that what inspired me was understanding how things work. So, I decided to stay in academia long before I decided to become a geologist. Geology came to me very effortlessly by popping up in my science classes: the chemistry of oil; why the coal in Brazil and the US is different; the main geomorphological provinces in Brazil and how they relate to the biome.

Q: What is the most fascinating aspect of your research/work?

The most fascinating aspect of geology is that sometimes nature tells you what she wants to tell you. If you know anything about the scientific method, you know that scientists formulate a question and a hypothesis, then get some (rock) samples to analyse, or do some experiments to see if their hypotheses are true. However, sometimes rocks don’t have that one thing you want to analyse, or they have it, plus a different thing.  They may have a nice texture that no one has seen before, or your experiments show you different things than you were expecting. Just like that, nature calls your attention to what she wants to tell you. 

Q: What attracted you to Soapbox Science in the first place?

I guess the stereotype of an old male with slightly crazy tendencies, a white lab coat, and a blackboard full of hardcore mathematics is common when people picture mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. There is nothing wrong with this if people also understand that scientists wear all kinds of clothing and that they work and study in lots of different environments. However, I think that people do hold that stereotypical idea, so I joined Soapbox Science because it is the perfect activity to challenge these stereotypes.

Q: Sum up in one word your expectations for the day

Attention. A focus on communicating science to people with different backgrounds; attention to science, particularly, in my case, to geology (and specifically to my topic of research); people paying attention to scientists and scientists paying attention to the public.

Q: If you could change one thing about the scientific culture right now, what would it be?

I would change the fact that article fees only go to publishing companies and not to the authors, reviewers, or even the funding agencies.

Q: What would be your top recommendation to a woman studying for a PhD and considering pursuing a career in academia?

Be aware of people’s biases. Don’t get me wrong, we need to fight bias and just by being in certain places, we do. Sometimes when it becomes too loud, we do need to speak up and act. However, fighting bias often is extremely tiring, especially when it results in microaggressions, or when you belong to a minority. So, I recommend being aware of people’s biases so that you know, for example, when to exit an interaction, when to act ‘politically’ or freely, and when others will hear if you speak up. 

Thanks for chatting with us Elisa, we can’t wait to hear more at our event in Centre MK, Milton Keynes, on Saturday 9th June. We hope to see you there!