Face of the LIB: Dagmara Żyła

When did you realise that you wanted to become a scientist?

Really late, only in secondary school. As a child, I was always interested in various scientific topics. When I was eight or nine years old, my favourite books were encyclopaedias. Unfortunately, I only had the editions from D to S - so I missed all the things that started with A and a later letter in the alphabet. Of course, I also loved dinosaurs as a child and that's still the case today. Because when I was writing my bachelor's, master's and doctoral thesis, I was still focusing on palaeontology and other insects.

Was there a plan B if your scientific career didn't work out?

At the time, my plan B was to become a teacher - probably a secondary school teacher. However, my plan A was always to go into science. However, I was really naive at the time. I didn't realise how difficult it would be and how much I would have to sacrifice. I have no regrets, but I wish I had the knowledge I have today to be better prepared for what awaited me.

What would you have expected back then and what do you tell your own students at the start of their academic career?

I usually advise them to try out different aspects of biology. That's what I do, because trying out different things helps you to find the career or specialisation that you are really passionate about in the end. When we talk about the career path, I tell them openly that it's not easy. When I look back on my own choices and path, I encourage them to be very persistent and have strong nerves to make it to the end.

What are the things that make being a scientist so hard?

Poland - my home country - is a pretty good country to start because there are some reputable institutions doing good science. On the other hand, when I was a student, the country was a bit behind in some academic career trends. For example, I wasn't prepared to really have to fight for a postdoc position. I don't think I even realised there was such a thing as a postdoc position until halfway through my doctoral studies. As I was the first in my family to go to university, I didn't have a scientific role model in my family. So I didn't know what a "perfect" career in science should look like. Like almost every female scientist, I had a more difficult start than some of my male colleagues. I wasn't really aware of it at the time, but looking back I realise it wasn't meant to be. The main problem anyway is that before you get a tenure-track position, you have to be prepared for a lot of disappointment. Or you have to travel around the world to get a job or do things you don't really want to do. It is also sometimes difficult to start a family. You need a very understanding partner. I'm lucky enough to have one, and that's really one of the reasons why I'm here today. Because my partner was very understanding of my career path and understood that I had to go where my profession was needed and not necessarily where we would prefer to stay.

Now that you've made it: What part of your job do you look forward to the most?

The happiest part of my day is when I can look at and study my beetles - short-winged beetles or Staphylinidae. I like the contact with the students, with whom I can share what I see, what I think and what I have discovered. I really love my work, despite all those barriers I talked about before. It was all worth it for me in the end. I didn't give up and that led me here, where I'm very happy. I love being at work and I love the collection here at the Museum der Natur Hamburg. I would love to have more students because I really enjoy working with them, and we certainly have enough bugs for everyone! My happiest moment at work is definitely looking through my microscope and seeing my beetles.

Is there a place where you feel deeply connected to nature?

Yes, there is! I've been there twice and it really left a lasting impression. The first time I totally fell in love and the second time I was confirmed that the Amazon rainforest is absolutely my favourite place. The diversity of species and everything around it is absolutely amazing. My beetles, of course, but also other organisms. Both visits were expeditions: The first time I was there as a participant and was a little scared at first. I have a phobia of spiders and was really scared of seeing scary eight-legged creatures in the Amazon rainforest. For this reason, it was a stressful experience, but at the same time my childhood dream of seeing the environment in person came true. Like a bookworm, I read all kinds of literature about the tropical regions. During my first stay, I learnt how to behave properly in this ecosystem and how to be aware of all these dangerous life forms without fear - so it became much more comfortable to stay there. The second time I was less afraid, but still had a lot of respect for nature. This time I was there as the organiser of the trip, which was totally different. All the participants really enjoyed the trip and we were able to collect some great material for our collections.

Apart from beetles, what is your favourite animal and why?

I am definitely most interested in insects. Their evolutionary success is amazing and they are found all over the world. You can discover and study many behavioural patterns and evolutionary processes in them. In my opinion, they are also very pretty - and I'm not just talking about colourful butterflies. I am fascinated by their way of life and how they interact with their environment. I've also become a little fascinated by spiders - I just can't look too deeply into their eyes.

How would you explain the term "biodiversity" to a group of children?

The most convincing proof of biodiversity is to show it directly to people - no matter how old they are. Taking them out into the field and showing them what lives in the parks and forests here in Hamburg, for example. There are still good living conditions here for many species that live under branches or in bushes. When I move foliage around on guided tours, I can always see how amazed people are when they see the biodiversity. If you go to a park on your own, you don't know what to look for and are a bit "blind" to the biodiversity right under your nose. So instead of explaining the concept in words, I would much rather show them how diverse everyday places are in their daily lives.

What do you want people to associate with the LIB in ten years' time?

That we are a globally active biodiversity centre with a rich and visible collection. With leading expertise in documenting and analysing biodiversity. That is what I would like to see. The collections in general are the LIB's greatest strength. The beetle collection in particular is of course very close to my heart. I think we have a great opportunity to make it more visible to the public in the future with the upcoming new museum in Hamburg.

What are you currently working on?

I have various projects at the moment, the common denominator of which is, of course, beetles. And by that I mean the specific beetle species that I am studying, because nobody is really in a position to work on all 400,000 species that we assume exist in total. That's probably only a third of the total beetle biodiversity. In general, we are interested in their relationships and evolution. I also work as a taxonomist and systematist, focussing on the tropical region, about which little is known so far. Therefore, we are trying to create a basis for future research to close the large gap between what we know for sure and what is only assumed so far. I am trying to collaborate with local researchers in Brazil and start cooperative projects to study tropical biodiversity. I also have two students working in nature reserves here in Hamburg to monitor the different species around us. Recently, we started a project on forensic entomology because my beetles can also help solve crimes.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for better environmental protection?

We already know the biodiversity around us quite well in some parts of the world, but - as I said before - we lack knowledge about certain groups in subtropical as well as tropical areas. And we can only protect what we know. We are constantly losing animal and plant species, but we don't even know what we are losing. Therefore, we need to work hard to better protect all species in the world by first getting to know them.

Dr Dagmara Żyła completed her doctorate at the University of Silesia in Poland in 2013. She then worked as a research assistant at the Upper Silesian Museum, also in Poland, before joining the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen as a postdoc in 2015. From 2018 to 2020, Dagmara conducted research as a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow at Iowa State University in the USA and at the University of Gdańsk in Poland. She later moved to the Museum and Institute of Zoology in Warsaw, where she worked as PI of her project funded by the National Science Centre. In 2021, Dagmara finally moved to the LIB at the Museum der Natur Hamburg.