INFORM February 2026

CAREER ADVICE INFORM 17

“Science is not going away. Cancer is not going away. Rare disease is not going away. The funding is going to come from elsewhere.” For individuals at a career crossroads, even change that is painful can yield something better in the long run. Briggs gives the example of a client who was in a “toxic role” for 15 years and got laid off in this year’s cuts. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and he soon had a new job where he has better work-life balance and feels valued.

When a caterpillar goes into a chrysalis, Briggs notes, it becomes something like a cellular soup, and dormant material gets repurposed to build an adult butterfly. Professionals can undergo a similar metamorphosis. “When systems break down, like job loss, funding, losses, and even identity crises, it feels like your future has dissolved,” she says. “We need to remember that underneath that breakdown, our dormant

capabilities are just emerging. We have the raw material in us—we just have to activate it to become that next amazing thing.” Christina Nunez is a writer and editor based near Washington, DC. She writes about science, technology, and innovation for a variety of organizations, including National Geographic and the US Department of Energy.

THOMAS EPPS, III PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING , UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE OIL PRODUCTS MASTERCLASS February 4, 2026 | 10 a.m. CST (UTC-6) EXCLUSIVE MEMBER-ONLY INDUSTRIAL

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