Though they are microscopic, cyanobacteria play a significant ecological role. Scientist Camila Crnkovic is dedicated to understanding what happens inside these organisms when environmental conditions shift. Crnkovic has a biochemistry degree from the University of São Paulo and a Ph.D. in pharmacognosy from the University of Illinois. She explores cyanobacterial metabolism, a significant field since these microbes are responsible for nearly half of all reactive nitrogen in the oceans.

Crnkovic’s scientific curiosity is matched by her artistic talents; she sings and plays the violin, often with her husband, who is an engineer and guitarist. She draws a parallel between science and music, noting that nuclear magnetic resonance, a technique that “listens” to molecular signals to reveal their structures, is one of her main research tools in the lab. Her work delves into the unseen, illuminating how some of Earth’s smallest organisms respond to sweeping planetary changes.