Courage: Stories about standing up for yourself

This week, we’re presenting stories about the courage to be the person you were meant to be. Part 1: The lessons that Margaret Rubega learns from her dad about fighting back are put to the test when he becomes the one she must stand up to. Part 2: In following her dream of studying chemistry, Charlotte Istance-Tamblin sees how to break the toxic patterns in her relationships. Margaret Rubega is a professor in the Department of  Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. She  has spent her career studying a diverse array of birds, with a  consistent interest in answering the questions: How Does That Work? and  How Does it Matter? She started her career getting crapped on in a tern  colony, then studied a bird that's famous for going in circles. Those  formative experiences probably explain a lot about her subsequent  career. She's always been especially interested in feeding in birds ---  the way they're built, the mechanics, the food -- because a bird that  isn't fed is a bird that's dead. As the Connecticut State Ornithologist,  she's had to counsel a lot of homeowners about whether woodpeckers are  eating their houses (they aren't), and talk to a lot of journalists.  Hoping to get better at it, via the log-in-your-own-eye method, she has  taught science communication and writing classes along with biology  classes for the last 10 years. She  currently leads an National Science  Foundation-funded research group studying methods of training graduate  science students to talk and write for non-scientists. You can find her  on Twitter @profrubega chatting about birds with students and others in  her #birdclass.  Charlotte Istance-Tamblin, Charley to her friends, is a  2nd year undergrad student at The University of Manchester working  towards an MChem. She hopes to develop a deeper understanding of  radiochemistry before moving into teaching at the academic level.  Outside of university she enjoys roller derby and travelling with her  wife where ever they are able to.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices