Interview Joey Zuijdervelt
Joey Zuijdervelt
Name:
Joey Zuijdervelt
Age:
31
Position:
PhD candidate in Micha Drukker’s group
Works at LACDR since:
I started out as an external RP2 student (I didn’t come from BFW/BPS, but from Biology) in Micha’s lab in early 2022, where I started working on stem cell models for researching neural crest development. After that, I continued my project as a research technician before starting my PhD in the autumn of 2023.
Favorite childhood memory:
As a kid, I was always on the move, and even then, I already loved the sense of productivity in a way. I loved working on the plant nursery of my uncles during pretty much every holiday from the age of 10 or 11 on. They grew all sorts of garden plants, from gaultheria to phlox and prunus. In the summers we’d be weeding and repotting for weeks and weeks on end, while in the winter we’d propagate lavender through making cuttings, and we’d smell like lavender for days.
Best quality:
I’m very active, open and generally enthusiastic. I’m curious and enjoy exploring, problem solving and the feeling of being on the frontier of knowledge, and I value the beauty of things in life.
Worst quality:
I’m really quite bad at confrontations, so I tend to avoid those. I can also overthink and, as a result, become overly risk-averse.
When I am off:
I’m into gardening and house-plant care.
I love extensive cooking, just taking the whole day to make a beautiful dish and try out new ingredients. I’m passionate about food, I really love the feeling of exploring the potential of the produce you’re working with, maybe I’m a weirdo in that sense, but sometimes I really get a feeling of reverence when I’m processing beautiful high-quality ingredients and you can just see them unfolding into something epic.
I’m very dedicated to sports, particularly waterpolo. I feel most alive when I’m in some body of water, whether it is playing waterpolo, scuba diving, or surfing, as long as I’m in the water, I’m a happy person.
Finally, my partner and I are training for competitive ballroom dancing. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do when we started a year ago, but I can recommend it to everyone!
What do you like about your work:
I love the riddles and the mysteries that we’re trying to find the answers to here. This is such an amazing time to be able to science, with so many new technologies and tools being added to our collective toolbox in such a short time. Another aspect that I like a lot is our involvement in education as PhD candidates. This year I had an RP1 student who got to join me at a symposium in the United States to present his work. Facilitating an experience like that is truly valuable. As supervisors, we have the opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of the students doing internships here, and I would like to be more involved in education and teaching in the future. I think we could do much more to leverage the knowledge and skills of PhD candidates in challenging our students to create even more meaningful learning experiences.
How do you balance your work with your private life:
That’s a hard one. The short answer is: I don’t. I think every starting PhD candidate struggles with finding that balance, and I’m not sure that ever really changes when you want to pursue a career in academia. I’ve noticed I have periods that are more work-focused, and periods where I spend more time on other things I like to do. That’s probably the closest thing to a balance that I can get.
Next scheduled holiday:
I just got back from beach waterpolo tournament in Palamos, Spain! Next up is a short weekend-trip to Gent, and then another to Stavanger to see the Northern lights.
Favorite music:
My first love in music was Red Hot Chili Peppers I think, and then the trippie, cosmic guitar sounds of John Frusciante kind of introduced me to more psychedelic, activist stuff like Massive Attack, Muse, Talking Heads and my all-time favorite: Pink Floyd.
Favorite podcast:
I like to listen to sciency podcasts, as an excuse to science when I’m not in the lab. The best ones out there are for sure the Lex Fridman podcast and the Andrew Huberman Lab podcast. Lex started out making 3- or 4-hour-long podcasts, focused on all fields of scientific discovery with guests who are experts in the field, and Andrew usually focuses on very specific topics in neuroscience.
