Maryam Zaringhalam Science Policy Scholar

Maryam Zaringhalam is a science and technology policy fellow through the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

- Alice Andre-Clark

She uses her knowledge and skills to help government officials reach decisions informed by science. Zaringhalam trained as a molecular biologist, but right now she’s working on a new mission—to get scientists to talk more openly about the messy process of research, not just the successes but the missteps and failures too. Fun fact: her scientific career began with a favorite toy.

WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP, WHAT GOT YOU THINKING ABOUT A CAREER IN SCIENCE?

I really liked Legos. I just loved seeing the way the blocks came together to make a plane or a building. Then in ninth-grade biology, our class dissected a pig. As I was looking into this pig, looking at all the parts that were like parts that were inside me, I thought, this is kind of like a Lego—all these little organs and systems coming together. That experience sent me into genetics and molecular biology, because that’s a basic level at which parts come together to create a whole.

HOW DID YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A RESEARCHER LEAD YOU TO THINK ABOUT THE PLACE OF FAILURE IN SCIENCE?