About Me

I was born on a rainy day, hence the name Rainie!

My Chinese name is very foresty – 叶雨楠, meaning Leaf, Rain and Phoebe zhennan (an expensive type of tree used to create pillars for the Forbidden City of China).

I come from the East coast of China, a small city called Nantong in Jiangsu Province, near Shanghai.

My parents and I make up a family of 3. Small but always happy! Oh, and I was a cute baby!

Now, I am a fresh Biomedical Science graduate from the University of Queensland. 4 years ago, I just wanted to learn about the human body and know how things work within me. But I soon discovered that not only what we already know about the biology is cool, but also the myriad questions we still have no answer for!

I was constantly blown away by the science I learned in uni, but the two areas that really left me in awe are embryonic development and neuroscience. How does life arise from just a single cell, with merely few instructive cues and seemingly a lot of randomnesses? How did consciousness arise in evolution and advance our race to this incredible extent? How is it even possible that our imagination runs so wild, with new sci-fi movies coming out all the time, only better?

During my undergraduate studies, I got a taste of scientific research at the Queensland Brain Institute, where I was inspired by many passionate neuroscientists. I also got exposed to philosophical thinking, which definitely changed my life for the better. To be honest, I always hated reading books growing up. But now, it feels strange not to read anything for a day.

Other than research, I also LOVE science communication and teaching. I have been a biology tutor at my uni for a few years, and just love communicating science to fellow students. Of course, this has been a big leap for someone whose first language is not English, but I am glad I took the actions to overcome my fear.

One trait about me is that I always like having multiple things on my plate. Not necessarily the best trait, but I personally enjoy sinking into the bed at the end of a full-on day with a few different things done, could be learning, working, exercising, or connecting with others..

One of the best things I’ve done is to start freelancing! I experienced so many different projects and got to know many lovely clients from all over the world. It also took my writing skills and confidence to the next level.

Now, I am heading into a PhD with scholarship at UQCCR (Centre for clinical research)! Woho! I’ll be working on female fertility, something that I am passionate about as more women struggle with fertility problems nowadays. I am also so excited to study development at the very first stage – preparing for fertilisation!

I think my journey has been a very exciting one so far and it’s getting better each day as I find more clarity in the things I am passionate about. I definitely still have a lot to learn and think about, but I try to enjoy each day, sunshine or rain!

THANK YOU – my family, friends, and mentors that I am deeply blessed with.

Let’s see what the future holds!