From CT-scanning leaves to exploring Michigan’s outdoors, Will Weaver‘s work as a MIDAS postdoctoral fellow bridges research, collaboration and discovery.
A MIDAS postdoctoral fellowship is about more than conducting research. Fellows become part of a community of researchers working across disciplines, learning from one another and developing new approaches to some of today’s most challenging questions.
For Will, that means using cutting-edge imaging technology to investigate the evolution of leaf vein architectures, presenting research to an international scientific community and finding inspiration in the natural world around Michigan.
Here’s a look at a day in the life.
Building better ways to study leaves
One of Will’s research projects uses high-resolution radiographic imaging and multimodal machine learning to study leaf vein architecture in museum specimens. By combining radiographic images with other specimen data, the team is developing methods to extract detailed traits from leaf vein networks at scale. These traits can help researchers investigate plant physiology, the leaf economics spectrum and how different strategies for transporting water through leaves have evolved.
Research, coffee and community
A typical research day also includes check-ins and weekly research meetings in the Green Court building, often with coffee from Dozer in hand.
These regular gatherings are an important part of the MIDAS postdoctoral experience. Beyond working on individual projects, Fellows have opportunities to connect with researchers from different disciplines, exchange ideas and talk through challenges they’re encountering in their work.
For a researcher working at the intersection of data, imaging and evolutionary biology, those interdisciplinary connections can open up new ways of thinking about a problem.
Sharing research beyond the lab
Will’s work as a Fellow also extends beyond his day-to-day research. This summer, he taught in the MIDAS AI for Scientists and Engineers Summer Academy, helping researchers from different disciplines build practical skills in AI and data science.
The Summer Academies give Fellows opportunities to share their expertise, develop as educators and connect with researchers beyond their own fields.
He also took his research to Tucson for the Botanical Society of America conference, where he presented his work on the Evolutionary History Structures Global Leaf Climate Relationships.
Outside the lab | Finding inspiration in Michigan
The life of a postdoctoral Fellow isn’t entirely spent in laboratories, seminars and conference rooms.
Outside of work, Will enjoys exploring and photographing Michigan’s landscapes. During a recent camping trip, he photographed the Black River as it flows into Lake Superior and the Mackinac Bridge through the haze created by Canadian wildfires in July.
“For a scientist whose research centers on understanding the natural world, Michigan provides plenty of opportunities to step outside the lab and experience it firsthand.”
