Stories of Women in Neuroscience · Stories of WiN

Dr. Eve Marder

·1 hr 28 min·2 clips

I went to college planning to be a civil rights lawyer, but switched to biology in sophomore year out of fear of missing science.

Dr. Eve Marder, distinguished neuroscience professor at Brandeis University, traces her intellectual development from childhood library immersion to current position. Born in Richfield, NJ, she developed voracious reading habits and at age 7-8 discovered that claiming to be a 'scientist' was effective at ending uncomfortable social questions. Academically precocious, she was skipped a grade in middle school and entered high school two years ahead in math. She attended an exceptionally well-funded public school in Irvington, NY where she wrote 100-300 page term papers on civil rights and literature. College-bound for civil rights law, she switched majors in sophomore year after finding a dull politics course but fearing she'd miss science. This fear of missing intellectual engagement, rather than predetermined passion, ultimately guided her toward neuroscience.

As heard by us

A warm, candid look at how a neuroscience career gets built, and how gatekeeping shaped it.

This episode is less a victory lap than a plainspoken account of how a neuroscientist found her footing: a childhood spent reading in a small New Jersey town, then the awkward business of choosing graduate school in an era when women were still being limited.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a candid neuroscience origin story with childhood reading, academic hurdles, and a voice that found its way over time.

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