This Is What Science Looks Like at NC State: Rebecca Goulter

Editor’s note: This post was written by Rebecca Goulter, a norovirus researcher at NC State. The post is an entry in an ongoing series that we hope will highlight the diversity of researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The series is inspired by the This Is What A Scientist Looks Like site.

G’day!  My name is Rebecca Goulter and I manage Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus’s food virology lab in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at NC State. I am also the Associate Director of Scientific Affairs for the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative (NoroCORE).

I got my Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Queensland back home in Australia in 2011, and was extremely lucky to be offered a job with Dr. Jaykus here at NC State when I finished. I started as a postdoctorate fellow, moved up to manage her lab and now I work with her as an associate director with the $25 million NoroCORE collaborative.

My day to day at work involves conducting research on noroviruses (the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States), managing the lab, working with undergrads and grad students, and working as part of the administrative team for NoroCORE. I have a specific interest in how noroviruses interact with enteric bacteria in the human gut, and also the use of social media as an education and outreach tool for science communication.

Science, especially biology, is a fascinating field to be working in, because no matter what experiment you designed or what question you are trying to answer, whatever the outcome, when you crunch your data and do the stats you are the very first person in the world to know the answer to the question you’re asking. I think that’s exciting and it’s part of the reason why I LOVE MY JOB.

Outside of work my husband and I love traveling, especially taking road trips in our RV with our two beagles, Pharaoh and Memphis. I love to SCUBA dive, particularly with sharks and other fun creatures. I love skyping my family back home. I love all kinds of music from The Backstreet Boys to Bad Religion (Greg Graffin is my hero). I have a ‘few’ tattoos ;). I like to run. I enjoy watching zombie moves. I think test match cricket is the greatest sport ever (and I’m more than happy to explain the rules to you if you have a spare couple of hours).

Our life motto – “All or nothing.”