Kelsey Schultz
Bio
Neuroscientist and all-around science enthusiast. I believe that honesty, curiosity, and critical analysis can enrich our lives by providing a deeper understanding of ourselves, our world, and each other.
Stories (5)
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Respect Your Qualifiers
If you’ve ever heard a scientist talk about research, you’ve probably noticed our fondness for qualifiers. We like to saturate our rhetoric with them, accompanying nearly every assertion with a recognition of the limits of our understanding and a readiness to reexamine our conclusions.
By Kelsey Schultz2 years ago in Humans
Flight and pursuit
It felt like the end of the world. The air was thick with smoke, the sky a putrid grey-brown that turned the sunlight into a deep apocalyptic crimson. Ash rained from the sky. Breathing was a hazard. It was the fall of 2020 and wildfires were ravaging the west coast. A small fire that had been burning not too far from home suddenly became massive - consuming 100,000 acres in just 24 hours - and began heading right for us. When it came within a few miles of our town, I gathered up my dog, Guthrie, and we fled.
By Kelsey Schultz2 years ago in Petlife
Gut Check
We’ve all had a “gut feeling” before. That sensation right below your ribs that says “go for it” or “don’t you dare!”. Though the saying “listen to your gut” might seem more like a metaphor than reality, recent research from neurobiologists suggests that your gut does in fact have a lot to say.
By Kelsey Schultz4 years ago in FYI
Open Scientist
There’s a movement within the scientific community called ‘open science’. The principle of it is that scientists should be 100% transparent about the entirety of their scientific process. Advocates of open science share their data, the code they use for their analyses, and every little detail of their methods, in the hope that their honesty and transparency will serve to advance the progress of science and reveal enduring truths faster than would otherwise be possible.
By Kelsey Schultz4 years ago in Psyche
Fail Better
I tried to hide my embarrassment and frustration, but I’m sure my averted gaze and nervous fidgeting made it obvious that I had bad news to share. I’d been a member of the lab for a few months but, looking at the state of the project, you might not have guessed that. Progress had been slow, and I now had to report to my mentor not only that I’d failed again to get our experiment working, but also that I’d broken over a thousand dollars-worth of equipment with one clumsy mistake. I managed to get the words out with a flimsy stoicism and prepared myself for reprimand. He gave me a look that was somewhere between understanding and amused and said “Happens to everyone! You did good. Just fail better next time.”
By Kelsey Schultz4 years ago in Humans
