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oon after completing her undergraduate studies in biology, Karen Evans realized she wanted to supplement her science background with business, crafting business proposals and engaging advertising campaigns. Now, as a senior account executive at The Scientist, she is in her element. She loves getting to know clients, building relationships, and creating packages that showcase their innovations and solutions through various channels such as the TS Digest and the print magazine.
Q | What is your scientific background?
As an undergraduate at East Carolina University, I studied biology. Although I was on a pre-dental track, I also spent a whole summer living in the Costa Rican jungle conducting population ecology research. After graduation, I planned to attend dental school, so I did a summer internship at a dental office to gain more experience. But I quickly realized that this was not the job I wanted; instead, I wanted to make a 180-degree switch in my career path.
Q | How did you transition into sales and marketing communications?
I decided to pursue a master’s degree in business administration at my alma mater. Then, I interned at their Small Business Technology and Development Center where I wrote business plans for companies. However, I still really enjoyed the science side of things and wanted to keep my background in biology, so I spent several years working on product marketing of cell culture media and reagents.
I genuinely enjoy meeting people at trade shows, getting to know them personally and professionally, and building meaningful connections.
—Karen Evans, The Scientist
Funnily enough, I remember seeing The Scientist magazine back in the day and thought, “One day, I’m going to work for a company in this magazine.” Little did I know that I would work for the magazine instead in 2016. The Scientist magazine is fantastic. It has a cult following; I always attributed it to being the Rolling Stone of life sciences.
Moving from marketing cell culture reagents to media channels was a huge shift, but at its core, it was still marketing. With my science background and previous experience, I had a good appreciation of what marketers need to do to promote a life science product and convince others to buy it.
Q | What is your favorite part of your role?
I genuinely enjoy meeting people at trade shows, getting to know them personally and professionally, and building meaningful connections. My science background allows me to step into their shoes—I understand their challenges firsthand. I know what it is like to be on the other side, having navigated the same pain points in the past.
While soaking up California's sunshine, Karen paddles out to catch some waves.
Karen Evans
I also love collaborating with our marketing team to develop creative ideas and strategic packages that help businesses put their best foot forward and maximize their return on investment. Whether through The Scientist magazine, TS Digest, email campaigns, social media, or other omnichannel approaches, we tailor solutions that effectively promote their brand. It’s a rewarding process.
What sets The Scientist apart is its consistently fresh and engaging content. Over the past decade, we've expanded our products to address the current industry trends. With so many ways to consume media today, The Scientist does an exceptional job of creating new, dynamic outlets to reach and engage our audience.
Q | What are your favorite types of stories that you’ve read from The Scientist?
I've always been fascinated by genetics, so I gravitate toward stories on genetics, genomics, and immunology, especially cell and gene therapy. With my cell culture background, I’m always on the lookout for organoid research—it’s just so fascinating. One story that truly stuck with me was about cell therapy for diabetes. Since my family has been affected by diabetes, this article hit close to home.
Q | What do you like to do outside of work?
One of my biggest hobbies right now is golf. I’m terrible at it, but I love it, and I absolutely want to figure out a way to do it every day for the rest of my life. There’s one golf course in San Diego that allows dogs, so we’ll take our dog to go around and play while we hit balls. I also dabble in surfing. I love paddling out and sitting on my board to hang out and people watch.
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn.
