Field Exhibit Honors Scientist and Co-worker Lynika Strozier

Lynika Strozier, an African American woman who worked in the Field Museum’s DNA lab until her death at age 35 from COV- ID-19, is the first person in a new Field Museum exhibition series, “The Changing Face of Science.” The series, which opened August 26, highlights the work of scientists and science educators who are women and/or people of color. The goal is to inspire and support preteens and teens who are interested in science and to create equal opportunities and careers for them.

“With this series, our goal is to expand one's understanding about the field of science and who a scientist can be,” said Katie Arnold, project manager at the Field Museum. “Visitors should expect to learn more about who Lynika was – both as a person and as a professional DNA scientist and educator. Our hope is that guests will understand how vibrant she was, especially given the significant challenges she faced, and walk away inspired by her story.”

Lynika was a Black woman, a Chicagoan, a person with a learning disability, an educator, and a scientist, until her death in June 2020. Despite facing challenges, Lynika made a difference in people’s lives while also leaving a mark on the Field Museum, according to the museum’s prepared material. People also remembered her for the great person she was. Visitors to the exhibit can see some of Lynika’s personal items including the birds, ants, and lichen specimen she worked on, personal lab equipment, and lab tutorial videos in which she is featured.

"Nika was something else. I'm so proud of her for representing our family and getting the chance to tell her story,” said Sharon Strozier Wright, Lynika’s grandmother, “And this exhibition helps other kids get into science? That's even better."

Lynika was born in Birmingham, AL and moved to Chicago when she was six months old, according to a 2012 story in the Chicago Tribune cited by the-scientist.com. Her mother struggled with addiction, and her grandmother raised her from age 6.

Diagnosed with a learning disability at age 8, Lynika found reading and writing difficult. But through research and performing experiments on cell lines at Truman College, she learned she was good with her hands. “Research allowed me to gain the confidence that I never had before,” Lynika told an audience of Field Museum trustees and donors in 2020. With a new motivation for biological research, she received an associate degree in biology from Truman.

While studying for her bachelor’s degree at Dominican University, Lynika completed her first summer internship at the Field Museum in 2009, sequencing lichen DNA. From 2011 onwards, she worked as a research assistant in the Field’s Pritzker DNA Lab. The Field Museum “has always been my second home,” she said in 2020 to Field Museum trustees and donors.

In 2012, Lynika worked on a publication describing a new species of liverwort, Frullania knightbridgei. This was the first non-flowering plant species, and second new plant species overall, to be officially described through an electronic submission.

Even though she was just beginning her research career, Lynika was critical to the effort. “Lynika had hands of gold!” wrote Matt Von Konrat, head of botanical collections at the Field, in an email to The Scientist. “Our entire team entrusted Lynika with extracting DNA from old dried plant material of over 15 years and only very little material from which to do so.”

Lynika obtained her master’s in biology from Loyola University in 2018. Seeking a career in education, she simultaneously obtained a master’s in science education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. After graduation, she managed the Science Lab and Bio Art Lab at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In January 2020, she became an adjunct instructor at Malcolm X College, where she taught biology.

School of Art Institute of Chicago photo