Q & A: Arian Mirzarafie Ahi
Please tell us about your background and why you started The A Level Biologist
I started The A Level Biologist in my final year of A- levels because I wanted to launch a site. Lots of online advice pointed to focusing on something you can talk about, so I picked Biology which I was studying at the time and did quite well in.
This was in 2011, over a decade ago. With teachers and textbooks, a biology site for A- level students seemed somewhat pointless. I thought it would be cool, and it gave me the filler that I needed as I built and played around with my new shiny site.
It was an old Google Sites site ( Google have discontinued that platform) that I pointed to a new domain that I bought, nervously, for £ 9 over 2 years. The domain is still the same today: thealevelbiologist. co. uk.
I went on to graduate in Biological Sciences at university as I continued to work on the website. It was increasingly apparent that students wanted an online learning experience that was instant, insightful and supportive.
We take it for granted now but studying for your A- levels used to be particularly lonely and demoralizing. An online place to help you organize yourself, deepen your understanding, and connect you with your exam board and extra support materials and content that is updated in real time made all the difference.
Increasing organic traffic, student feedback and requests from advertisers kept me going.
What can be done to improve education and science outreach, particularly in relation to Biology?
Biology is a great subject that can be learnt in so many different ways. You can be a naturalist strolling around your park, snapping pics of wildlife and identifying them in an app ( shoutout to my butterfly bushes, blackberries and maples); delve into technical biochemical and genetic data to find where all your genes are located in your chromosomes or explore your genetic roots through a home kit; or follow a given path of formal academia that takes you through qualifications, theoretical content and practical experiences.
Biology is extremely diverse. One thing that stands out to me is the haphazard setup of real life experiences in Biology, particularly laboratory work and field trips.
They require specific training and equipment, and are therefore prohibitively expensive and niche in some places. If you’re in a less affluent situation, walking around with your pocket app and trawling websites for insights can give you the knowledge that can complement the limited formal education and experiences you can access. If you do get the state- of- the- art facilities straight from school, bear in mind the breadth of research that exists and the perspective that you may be in a small minority.
The best thing that we can do to maximize education is to keep it lean and minimalist. No iPads, jungle trips or 3D printers can replace the essence of learning which is curiosity and wonder.
We see you also have a podcast! How has that been going and what other projects are you involved in?
The A Level Biologist Podcasts came about when I dropped out of my PhD and realized that I needed to immortalize the amazing people I’d bumped into along the way. The people who everyone would love to meet, the professionals who everyone would want to work with.
I already had a mental list of guests and topics I wanted to include, so Season 1 took off almost by itself because I’d pre- recorded so many episodes. It was as if the content was backed up, just waiting to find an opening.
The pandemic gave the medium a boost through Season 2, and we are now in Season 3. It’s part of The A Level Biologist because I think students want a glimpse into what lies beyond their studies and what careers they can start looking into, with the benefit of hearing from people who’ve been there, done that. Equally, the podcast is also aimed at professionals and amateurs who enjoy the topics.
With so many somewhat disjointed arms and avenues under my portfolio of science communication projects, I decided it was high time I unified it all under one umbrella, so I established the MCBE ( Mirzarafie Centre for Biology Excellence) which is operating on LinkedIn as a weekly newsletter packed with news, insights and an original preview of my personal daily musings and photos. Having spent the past couple of years training as a science teacher, hearing Mr. Mirzarafie helped me frame myself.
“I think students want a glimpse into what lies beyond their studies and what careers they can star t looking into...”