About

 

Next Gen Scientist was formed with the idea that scientists can and should utilize all available resources to communicate what they are doing and why it is important. It's more critical than ever to convince policymakers and the public that scientific innovation must be nurtured to help tackle the biggest problems that humanity faces now and in the future.

It's an interesting time to be a scientist. Technology is advancing rapidly and dropping in cost. We have the ability to connect with others on a global scale through the internet. Social media can be utilized to share and communicate with others at little to no cost. What will all of this mean for the future of scientists? What will this mean for young people with an interest in science? What will this mean for the future of our planet?

About the creator of NGS:

Aaron Pomerantz, Creator and Host of Next Gen Scientist. Aaron has a Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology from the University of California Riverside, a Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in the Department of Integrative Biology from the University of California Berkeley. He has pioneered the application of novel technology to conduct fieldwork in remote tropical rainforests, such as origami-based microscopes and handheld DNA sequencers. He spent two years working in the Peruvian Amazon as a Field Biologist and National Geographic Explorer for a research & ecotourism company called Rainforest Expeditions. Currently, Aaron is a Market Segment Manager at Oxford Nanopore Technologies.

His motto: "The coolest discoveries are the ones you make"

 
Here we describe our project "Real-time DNA barcoding in a remote rainforest using nanopore sequencing". You can read more details in our bioRxiv preprint here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/09/15/189159 This project, funded in part by National Geographic, was extremely challenging and fun, and I owe a huge thanks to our collaborators and friends in Ecuador who helped make this possible.
See the full post at http://www.perunature.com/! Thanks to the Prakash Lab at Stanford University for letting us test out the Foldscope in the Peruvian Amazon. For more posts follow on Twitter @AaronPomerantz https://twitter.com/AaronPomerantz and @PrakashLab https://twitter.com/PrakashLab