Dr. Lauren Esposito

Evolutionary biologist Dr. Lauren Esposito, PhD, credits her parents with inspiring her to become a scientist. “It was really their love of nature and their encouragement of exploration that inspired my scientific pursuits from an early age.” That passion continues today. “For me, science has always been a place for creativity, and nature has always been a place where I was truly free to be myself. As an evolutionary biologist studying arachnids—spiders and scorpions—I am able to travel the world, explore places I have never been, and try to help answer questions about the history of our natural world,” she says. On top of her work, Esposito is also an activist for LGBTQ+ equity and inclusion in science, tech, engineering, math, and medicine careers. “Hands down, my favorite part of my career has been creating a space for young scientists to feel like they are safe to bring their full identities into the lab. That wasn’t something I felt as I was entering this career. That’s the beautiful thing about queer resilience—we get to imagine the world we want and create our own communities.” Her activism led to the launch of a visibility campaign, 500 Queer Scientists, which has shared the stories of thousands of LGBTQ+ students and professionals, celebrating their whole identities and creating greater awareness and feelings of belonging in professional spaces. “The visibility campaign I created was in response to my own experiences feeling exclusion and isolation, and was intended to be a virtual space for the community to share their stories of joy, success, and resilience,” she says. –SS