Today we’d like to introduce you to Fernando De Miguel
Hi Fernando, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Rockville, MD, of Spaniard parents. When I was about two years old, my parents moved back to Pamplona, in Spain, so I was raised and spent most of my life there. I studied Biochemistry, got a M. Sc. and a Ph.D. in Spain and came back to the USA in 2016 to work as a postdoctoral researcher in Yale University, in New Haven, CT. My expertise is cancer biology. About two years ago, in 2022, a friend offered me a job opportunity in a small biotech located in Carlsbad so my wife and I, both cancer researchers, moved to Encinitas. It’s been two years and we are loving the North County SD life. My side project and hobby is my YouTube channel called BeerBroScience, in which my wife and I show our trips, lifestyle in San Diego and some Science Outreach to a growing Spanish speaking community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It wasn’t always easy. Even though I have an American citizenship and my wife is a permanent resident in the country, we are both originally from Spain and the culture and lifestyle is very different between both countries. Settling down in CT was a little rough at the beginning as I was expected to know the ways of the American life as a citizen, even though I had never lived in the country. I didn’t even know how to do my taxes, to give an example. Eventually, we learned to love the life in the US, and especially now that we live in Southern California, our life has improved significantly, although we are further away from Spain, our family and friends, which always makes things a little more difficult. The other struggle at some points has been the language. English is my second language and although I consider I have a quite good level of English, and we have improved a lot in the last 8 years, you never actually express yourself like you do in your native language. Every day is getting better though!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My job is scientific research. It is what I’ve done most of my life and for what I specialized with my education. And I love doing it. Here in SD, I transitioned from a academic research to the biotech industry, which has been an exciting challenge. I am lucky to still do what I do best, which is cancer research. But overall, I am a Science “nerd”. I love Science in all its aspects and in a way, it is what brought me to start my YouTube channel. I have been involved in several science outreach initiatives. For instance, I am and have been a long volunteer of ECUSA, the association for Spanish Scientists in the USA. I have led several projects for science outreach but one that I’d highlight is a series of podcasts in which I have informal conversations with some of the best Spanish scientists in the US and Spain. It’s called “Cuentame Mas Ciencia” “Tell Me More Science”. I also do some Science Outreach in my youtube channel and my social media, but it is mostly focused on our life in San Diego and the different trips that my wife and I do. We have some series of videos about Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Yosemite, etc. I have always liked to create stuff and I keep doing it whenever I have a chance.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’m not a strong believer in luck. I think that everyone needs to fight to find their good or bad luck, and then life and serendipity will happen and put you in whatever track you end up on. I would say that if one do the right steps it is more likely to end up having “good luck”, but life can be unpredictable anyways. I think the best luck I’ve had is to be surrounded by the right people who have lift me up when I was down and offered a hand every time I needed one. I feel fortunate for that.
Pricing:
- Subscribe to my channel, it’s free!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beerbroscience/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Beer-Bro-Science/61556781366276
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/beerbroscience/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeerBroScience
Image Credits
Fernando De Miguel
