My name is Joy Menten (she/her) and I like proteins. I enjoy looking at protein structures, comprehending how they work, and designing them for new functions. I apply protein modeling and design to affirm the dignity of all life on Earth as we navigate global climate change.

My passions

My favorite proteins are the enzymes which make possible (nearly) all of the nonspontaneous chemical reactions in the tree of life, inside and outside of the cell. Each one leverages multiple “strategies”, referred to by some scholars (including myself) as the “contributions to enzyme catalysis”. They weave together substrates using physical forces, hold them together until they react, convert thermal energy into directional motion, and they even use specialized tools (cofactors) for particularly difficult reactions. Pretty cool, right? I think so too!

They are the object of my professional interest, and one of the tools that I believe will help us undo some of the violence done by humans to not only ourselves but the rest of the tree of life. To demonstrate that, I will be writing and uploading some essays about enzymes to my Blog. Stick around if you want to know more! I’m no techno-saviorist, but technology has its place alongside social, political, and communitarian changes that we need to bring ourselves back from the brink of ecological collapse.

My principles

I advocate for open access knowledge, free and open source software (FOSS), open schematic instrumentation and hardware (OSH), inclusive science, slow science, self-directed learning, project-based learning, indigenous ways-of-knowing, non-hierarchical learning environments, trauma-informed community building, and nonviolent communication.

I believe that I must reckon with the troubled history of my scientific ancestors in order to conduct rigorous and just science today. Repairing harms and finding justice someday requires we embrace anti-bigotry discrimination today (e.g., anti-racism, anti-transphobia, anti-misogyny). We will get there someday, but we will have to be brave.

My tools

My favorite software is the text editor Emacs that I use daily. Emacs’ org-mode organizes my scientific journal, and org-roam structures my personal knowledge graph (Note: I will link it here some day!)

My hobbies

I’m also a nascent amateur mycologist. I’d like to spin up a digital citizen science project based on this pastime, but I’d like to learn more about what’s needed by the field and in the field. I probably can’t help myself from talking about foraging, imaging, identification, processing, and cooking the (edible) specimens, so watch the blog for updates. I’m brainstorming a citizen science integration here: contact me if you’re looking for collaborators for your project! I’m good with code.