Louise Hughes grew up in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. None of her family worked in the scientific field, though her grandfather was an amateur scientist. He died when Hughes was very young so she did not get to know him, but she now has his antique brass light microscope. “No one else in my family was involved in science while I was growing up, but my youngest sister is in her final year of a physics degree, so we have a second scientist in the family,” she shares.

Louise Hughes’ love of science started when she was young. “I went to a rather weird and wonderful school that had some amazing and inspiring science teachers. We often pushed our classroom experiments and several times had to evacuate as a result,” she recalls. “My biology teachers inspired me to do a degree in biology and I had the option to do several physics modules during my undergrad degree, which have provided me with a good physics foundation.”

She attended Aberystwyth University in Wales for all three of her degrees, beginning with her undergraduate studies in biology, then her master’s in biological electron microsco­py, and finally her PhD. “The master’s degree was partially completed in the AO Research Institute in Davos, Switzerland doing some research into cell adhesion on different implant surfaces. Iolo ap Gwynn supervised my master’s and PhD and Geoff Richards co-supervised my master’s. Both are inspira­tional electron microscopists,” Hughes says.

Gwynn got her started in the field of biological electron mi­croscopy (EM). “His enthusiasm and expertise, combined with the expertise of... the technicians who ran the EM facility at Aberystwyth...provided me with a solid foundation in all areas of electron microscopy. They inspired me, challenged me, coached me, took me to casualty when I had one of my more serious sharp-blade incidents when learning ultramicrotomy, and provided me with an immense thirst for exploring every­thing to do with biological electron microscopy,” she recounts. “This was further enhanced when I joined Prof. Geoff Richards at the AO Research Institute for the thesis part of my mas­ter’s degree, so much so that I pursued a PhD.”

Following her PhD, she took her first postdoc position at Aberystwyth University, then moved to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she held two postdoc­toral positions. “My time at UCLA focused on using electron microscopy to study cilia in photoreceptor cells, with partic­ular attention on Usher’s syndrome, and studying the cilium/ flagellum of the eukaryotic parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Most of my time at UCLA was spent working with Prof. Hong Zhou, who taught me a great deal. I was a rare biologist in a large team of physicists and computer scientists who were pushing the resolution limits of electron microscopy. Following my postdocs, I took up a position of Facility Manager at Oxford Brookes University where I had the fortune to work with Prof. Chris Hawes for several years, specializing in 3D electron mi­croscopy techniques and applying it to a range of organisms but with an emphasis on plants and trypanosomes.”

Hughes now works as a product manager for life science at Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis. The subject areas she is focused on are applying energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to biological samples and developing correlative mi­croscopy software for analytical microscopy techniques. “The job is varied and very interesting, going from research-spe­cific applications work with collaborators, to helping develop techniques and achieve research goals for customers, to more business-orientated work producing reports and marketing material. I also get to be involved in developing future prod­ucts and translating the needs of researchers to our tech­nology and development teams,” she explains. “One of the interesting projects I am involved with at present is looking at tissue and biomaterial interactions, using EDS to investigate compositional changes in biomaterials during biodegrada­tion, but also elemental changes in the surrounding cells and extracellular matrix.”

Being in an interdisciplinary field has kept the work engaging. “There is so much to learn in the crossover between scientific disciplines that it is an exciting subject to be involved in and I find it fascinating,” Hughes shares. “EDS is an established technique in physics and materials science, yet relatively unknown in biology. Being able to bring physics and biolo­gy together opens many research opportunities and being involved in that is a privilege.”

The biggest challenge in her career has been dealing with workplace bullying. “I came very close to leaving science completely because of extensive bullying, and several of my colleagues did leave. I do not think academia has addressed the ongoing abuse of power between people higher up the academic hierarchy and people at earlier stages of their ca­reer,” she says. “I stuck it out, kept as professional as possible and when it became clear that I was not supported by the institution I was in, I left for another job. It is a good rule of thumb to have an exit strategy if you find yourself in that situation.”

Joining the Biophysical Society has helped Hughes stay con­nected with others in the field, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when maintaining connections has been more challenging. “I joined the Biophysical Society a couple of years ago and have found that it has a great community of people involved in events and the meetings. It has been wonderful to be part of that community and I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be connected to other researchers via societies such as this one, for knowledge exchange, career opportunities, and for general inspiration, especially in the current environment when physically meeting up with people has been impossible.” Being a BPS member “has given me access to the wide variety of techniques that people are using in this field and information about where people need to go next to address key research topics,” she says. “I have con­nected with a variety of different people and I look forward to seeing where we go next.”

For her part, Hughes hopes to expand the range of techniques available to biophysicists and help researchers extract the information they need from their samples. “I see the future involving an increasing array of techniques being brought together and being used on the same samples, enabling us to access and interrogate data in ways that have not been possible up to now,” she shares. “Computing and data analysis are already key to this process and will become increasingly important in the future.”

Hughes’ colleagues are impressed with her science communi­cation skills. Her supervisor at Oxford Instruments NanoAnal­ysis, Iain Anderson, notes, “A great strength that Louise brings to us is her ability to communicate the essence of what a re­search application is all about despite my lack of background knowledge. The passion and drive that Louise brings to all of her work is inspiring, and the ability to flex both the style and content of her communication to her audience is a huge asset to her work.” Errin Johnson, Hughes’ collaborator, is the EM facility manager at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University. They have collaborated on and off since 2013. Johnson says, “I have always admired her passion for biological electron microscopy and drive to help improve the field, particularly in volume EM and microanalysis. She also sets an excellent example for using microscopy to engage with the non-scientists, through her blog, her microscopy artwork, and extensive outreach activities.”

To young people starting their careers in biophysics, she offers this advice: “Make connections, use memberships of societies such as the Biophysical Society to learn and net­work, speak to people in the fields you are interested in, and collaborate as much as you can. Remember that there are many career paths in industry as well as academia!”

If Hughes were not a biophysicist, she would be an artist. While the two careers may seem very different, she says, “An electron microscopist is a type of photographer, just one that uses different technology and subjects.” Indeed, she already produces art inspired by her work by “either coloring electron micrographs, making 3D-printed jewelry inspired by biological forms, or using resin as a medium to make art rather than embed EM specimens.” She adds, “I also like baking, doing many different crafts, and am currently working on updating my campervan so that it is ready for travel when lockdown restrictions lift.”