Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Francesc Gascó-lluna. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Francesc, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My parents never had the chance to study. Our family comes from a humble working-class lineage. And they started working being very young. So they thought they should give us the opportunity to become what we wanted. They knew that we always could get a regular job, so why not try to get a job we love? Why shouldn’t we study and get experience on a field or discipline that we loved? So they always supported me -and my sisters- about my career choice. They never tried to talk me into choosing to study soemthing of their choice.
I’ve always been grateful for that. I wouldn’t be a paleontologist if they hadn’t been so supportive. But now I can see even further: they always trusted that I was going to get experience and develop skills and abilities during that journey. And those skills and abilities are the ones I use every day. I’s not about fossils that I learned. I became the kind of scientificly-thinking professional that I am.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I joined the university thinking about becoming a researcher in paleontology. That’s all I ever wanted: study fossils to discover the unknown details of long gone life. For a while I got the chance to experience the journey as most people do, I got a PhD funding grant and I had the opportunity to devote 4 years of my life to research. But funding ended and I had no choice but to loook for an alternative. And I realised I’d been doing science communication (sci-com) for years without realising. I taught at schools, at summer camps, I shared pieces of information online, I wrote articles for all audiences… so I realised I’d found my alternative.
Now, I’m focused on content creation focused on paleontology: I write books, I lecture, I create videos for youtube and other social networks, and I take part in other sci-com projects, such as museum exhibitions.
I never truly quitted research. I’m still attached to some projects with some colleagues.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to achieve balance: to get enough income though the content creation to be able to fund my own research. And my research results would be the topic to continue creating contents about. That way, I could say that my skills and my own project have helped me to achieve my life goal.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I grew up hearing a beautiful story that ended up being not entirely true. They used to tell me that if I wanted to be someone important, if I wanted to have the work I dreamed… I had to be a good student, get the best qualifications possible, go to the university and continue working hard. That was the only thing that -they said- we needed for success.
Now in my 40s I know it’s a lie. It’s all about your environment: the people you relate to, and the resources available. Of course, learning and developing skills is something important, and there’s no other option than working hard. But you need to get people to know you, and you need to get access to resources. Without netwoking and funding, you can the the #1 worker in town, but you’ll never be successful.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pakozoic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francescgasco/
- Twitter: https://x.com/pakozoic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ElPakozoico
Image Credits
Photos by Chris Parkes, Brooke Sweeney, María Ciudad Real and Dan Vidal