Interview

I am a Research Technician at the Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star). My main area of work involves conducting experiments on liquid CO₂-seawater-rock reactions and maintaining the microspectrometers. Prior to the current position, I worked at JAMSTEC for 11 years as a JSPS postdoc and for 6 months as a Project Engineer. Before joining JAMSTEC, I served as a postdoc at the University of Tokyo, during which time I had my first child. Additionally, during my JSPS fellowship, I had my second and third children. The period of a JSPS postdoc is basically three years, but in my case, I was accepted once as a PD and twice as an RPD. During each fellowship, I had to suspend my research activities due to childbirth/childcare responsibilities and the COVID-19. Consequently, I held a JSPS postdoctoral position for a total of 11 years. I am currently in a family of five with a husband, two elementary school children, and a preschool child. During my time as a graduate student and postdoc, my research focused on microfossils from the early Earth. I worked on developing methodologies to identify the source materials, taking into account their chemical compositions as well as morphology.

I am passionate about research because it's interesting to know what I don't know, yet I also like to spend time with my family, so I can't choose between the two. Therefore, I have been seeking a job that enables me to commute while living with my family, engage in interesting work, and work in a comfortable environment. Then, I learnt that JAMSTEC had launched a new recruiting program, the JAMSTEC Restart Support Recruitment. After reviewing the requirements, I thought "this is it!” and decided to apply for the position. Having already resumed my career as an RPD, and with the help of my husband, I was able to devote more time to my research after the period when my children frequently fell ill had passed. However, I keenly felt that each child has their own personality, and there are challenges in the infant stage as well as in the school-age stage. The JAMSTEC Restart Support Recruitment presents a great opportunity for me to continue my research; it is qualified for persons who are caring for children up to elementary school age, as well as who had been completed RPD fellowship. The program also allows applicant to take a transitional review to a tenure-track position. The wide range of job positions was also attractive to me. In my case, I applied for a research technician position because I have become interested in supporting researchers through my experience in analyzing various samples during my long-term JSPS fellowship at JAMSTEC, while considering to balance work with my anticipated future life.

My current research focuses on the origin of life. In 2022, researchers at JAMSTEC proposed the “Liquid/Supercritical CO₂ Hypothesis” to address the question of where the first life originated. For more information, please refer to the articles in JAMSTEC BASE (ref) and other sources. I am currently involved in one of the research projects to test this hypothesis. In this experiment to reveal what happens when liquid CO₂ reacts with the surrounding seawater, we are trying to find out what elements dissolve in each of seawater and liquid CO₂ by placing seawater, rocks, and liquid CO₂ in a pressure vessel to making them react. The major goal of this research is the same as the one I have been working on, to elucidate the history of life, but it requires different skills and knowledge from the ones I have had before. Therefore, I am currently in the process of acquiring knowledge and experience by operating and improving experimental equipment used in research, with the guidance of colleagues. This involves obtaining experimental data and reading relevant papers to broaden my understanding.

When it comes to experiments, I am still at a level where I am fully occupied with immediate tasks and cannot speak about future prospects confidently. My goal is to diligently work on each task to enhance my expertise. I aim to continue conducting experiments, accumulating data, and contributing to hypothesis validation. Additionally, regarding the maintenance of the microspectrometer, I want to leverage my accumulated experience to handle a wide range of sample analyses. While I hope to become someone recognized for their expertise in these experiments and analyses, I also strive to create an environment where various individuals can utilize them, even in my absence. I look forward to enjoying every research endeavor, whether the results are as expected or unexpected.