NICOLE DUBILIER
Professor, Marine Biology, University of Bremen Director, Symbiosis Department
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology Bremen, GermanyCOURTESY OF NICOLE DUBILIERNicole Dubilier doesn’t have fond memories of her high school science classes. “Unlike many scientists who say they loved to dissect frogs and insects, I was not interested in science when I was young,” says Dubilier, director of the Symbiosis Department at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany.
Dubilier grew up in Manhattan, where her exposure to nature was limited to Central Park. But, vacationing on Fire Island in the summer, she fell in love with the ocean and decided to become a marine biologist. “It wasn’t so much the biology,” she says. “There was absolutely nothing I found inspiring or interesting about biology class. It was my worst subject in school; it was about learning without understanding.”
Dubilier is unapologetic about her early science experience and emphasizes that an early and vivid interest in chemistry, physics, or biology is not a necessary prelude to a successful science career. “I actually don’t think it’s that important,” she says.
“I am just really interested in how two species come together: Why are they associated? ...
