"Chasing the Wolf" with Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz at HHMI
- Yubo Zhang
- Aug 14
- 3 min read
Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Head of the Cellular Physiology (4CP) research program and a senior group leader at the Janelia Research Campus.
Early Life and Transformative "Gap Years"
Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz grew up in a farm-like environment surrounded by animals. Although her father was a physical chemist, she did not initially plan to become a scientist, majoring in psychology and philosophy in college.
Unsure of her long-term path after graduating, she took what is now known as a "gap year" (which turned into three years) to teach high school sciences. She spent her first year teaching in Kenya, Africa, which completely revolutionized her worldview. Seeing firsthand how biology could improve human survival through crop yields and medicine inspired her to pursue the life sciences seriously. Upon returning to the U.S., she taught at a wealthy private school in California for two years while her husband attended law school.
The Knot Anecdote: Culturally Responsive Learning
During her time teaching, Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz observed a stark contrast in how intelligence is defined and expressed:
The 3D Challenge: In Kenya, her 15-to-16-year-old students lived in dirt-floor classrooms with no textbooks. When asked to draw a three-dimensional cube on a chalkboard, they struggled because they were unaccustomed to representing 3D shapes on 2D surfaces.
The Knot Triumph: Later, she had to teach complex wilderness knots. In the U.S., college-level students struggled immensely with this physical task. In Kenya, however, the students learned them instantly simply by watching. Because they grew up building thatched mud huts and weaving baskets, physical, hands-on 3D tasks were second nature to them.
This experience served as an early lesson in pedagogical responsiveness—meeting students where they are rather than forcing a singular, standardized norm.
Scientific Philosophy: "Chasing the Wolf" vs. "Sniffing Around"
Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz started her PhD at Johns Hopkins University. Having been out of college for four years, she was older than her peers, but she found her teaching background gave her the maturity and confidence to interact with senior scientists and postdocs without intimidation.
She uses a powerful canine metaphor to describe scientific decision-making:
The Wolf: This is the track of your planned, funded research.
The Unexpected Tangent: Every day, experiments yield bizarre, anomalous data. Many scientists ignore these anomalies because they are fixated on their original plan.
The Dilemma: Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz notes that she frequently has to decide whether to keep chasing the "wolf" or stop and "sniff around" the unexpected anomaly.
Embracing the unexpected paid off majorly in her career. Early on, while utilizing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and photobleaching, her lab serendipitously discovered they could calculate protein diffusion constants, taking her research in a brand-new direction. Later, as a postdoc, she ignored her mentor's advice to discard a certain drug and discovered that it caused the Golgi apparatus (an essential cellular organelle) to completely disappear under a microscope within two minutes, leading to groundbreaking publications on organelle dynamics.
Leadership, Mentorship, and Shifting Success
Her leadership style centers on giving scientists the freedom to explore. She believes that forcing a predefined project onto lab members limits the quality of the science. Instead, she lets postdocs explore the lab's technology before collaboratively shaping a project. She reins in over-ambitious goals (like "curing cancer") and teaches them that answering systematic, smaller questions yields the most profound, unanticipated discoveries.
For Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz, the definition of success has evolved from focusing on her own narrow projects to celebrating the success of her lab members and program leaders. She likens this transition to parenthood: taking pride in watching others grow and carry their own dreams forward.
Systemic Barriers and Advice for Women in Science
Having raised two children during her graduate and postdoctoral years, she is highly sensitive to the unique burdens female scientists face.
Infrastructure over Isolation: She emphasizes that a supportive partner and, crucially, safe and accessible childcare infrastructure are what truly allow women to focus and thrive at work.
The Power of a "Slow" Slope: Because of her family obligations, her postdoctoral training lasted seven to eight years, and she did not become a Principal Investigator (PI) until her mid-30s—older than many male peers. Her core advice to young women is "don't rush". She views careers as graphs: some experience a vertical spike, while others (like herself) follow a slow, steady progression. As long as you do high-quality, impactful science, you will be appreciated regardless of your age.
Handling Setbacks: Her passion for outdoor adventure taught her to navigate male-dominated environments without feeling intimidated. When dealing with setbacks like paper rejections, she advises taking one night to be upset, looking constructively at the reviewers' perspectives, and leaning on a supportive community to stay resilient.
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