Spotlight: Stephane
Stephane Rombauts interviewed by J.J. Ramberg
The first thing you will notice about Stephane is that he is funny. He’s got a dry sense of humor that subtly sneaks its way through, making him incredibly fun to talk to and very approachable. Stephane is a bioinformatics expert who jumped into our Ocean Science channel and has become a lively part of the conversation
When did you start to get involved with bioinformatics?
I started doing bioinformatics, last century (late 1990’s), annotating the first plant genomes with the rudimentary tools from back then. I have been in the field for 25 years, which means I grew up with the field of bioinformatics related to genomics. But, I’m also very much interested in sequencing technologies. I find it important as a bioinformatics person to know her/his data. This lead me to go back to the wetlab to extract high molecular weight DNA myself, build the libraries, and sequence. I’m curious by nature and like to explore new things all the time. Career-wise, I haven’t moved around much, actually not at all — I went to kindergarten on same street as I went to University :-). But, I have travelled a lot thanks to the collaborations I’ve worked on.
It sounds like you must love where you live then. Where is that?
I live in Ghent, Belgium. I was born there, I studied there, I work there. It is located in the Flemish part of Belgium (we have three national languages: Flemish (=Dutch), French and German). The city predates the arrival of the Romans and has kept a lot of its historic buildings. The city center is car free and lively with many restaurants and pubs. With the University in and around town and the nearly 40K students, the city barely sleeps.
Belgium is the most northern country of southern Europe. We enjoy having a meal with friends that takes hours, tasting good food, sipping on a good beer, and chatting about everything.
What is your current job?
My current job’s label is “Principal Senior Staff Scientist” at the VIB. I do consulting work across the institute where I work for other researchers, PhD students, PostDocs, but also further in the frame of diverse collaboration. I follow-up on genome projects but also run all sorts of analyses to contribute to publishable stories. I basically build resources that I share through the established public channels allowing other to harness knowledge.
How did you end up in this career?
When I was studying biotechnology at the university in Ghent, Belgium, (one couldn’t study bioinformatics back then) I was also programming and building a database system for a company to manage stock, sales, accountancy etc.
By the time I reached the master thesis, I had the opportunity to merge both, building a database for specific biological data including analysis tools. The publication for this tool has collected a couple of thousands citations. I then moved into genome projects. With the sequencing technology evolving very fast, it was a quite booming time. And that is where I’m still now.
What is the challenge you’d most like to solve?
Being into the realm of genomes and genomics I always thought about an Ark of Noah where, given good sequencing data correctly assembled and stored in a system (database or other), that would allow one to recreate organisms using synthetic biology… not to build a Jurassic Park, but as a way to have a record of how life is/was with the option to sustain endangered species, or help species to recover from cataclysms.
What is the most exciting thing you are working on?
Currently, I’m looking for the new exciting thing to do. I’ve been working with genomes for years and right now I feel like engaging into new adventures — still research related, still genomics, but applied to things that matter.
Seems like NewAtlantis came around at just the right time for you!
Jayson (aka jagut), brought me in contact with the NewAtlantis community. I had already known Jayson for more than a decade — we met when he came to do a PhD in the same research institute where I still wander around today. We became friends and went fishing a few times (once even on a boat on the North Sea in November). We hung out, enjoying the Belgian beers and good food. When Jayson moved to a research institute related to the marine world, we regularly brainstormed on approaches and methods that could be applied on the data they were collecting. During that time, Jayson got more and more into the blockchain world which lead us to chat about research and also about the technology, investments possibilities in some cryptocurrencies, etc, Then he discovered NewAtlantis which linked his research with the blockchain. From that point on, he became highly enthusiastic, bullish even, about it and talked about all the possibilities this could offer by disrupting the current (academic) research world.
What gets you excited about NewAtlantis?
The possibilities it can offer to do science in another way. For me science should be fun to do. It’s playing detective and solving problems. It’s about the freedom to think, share ideas, and brainstorm as no idea is too crazy to share. So, with NewAtlantis, the possibility to reshape the world of science is what triggered me. Right now science has gotten too much into a rat race — there is too much structure around hierarchies and politics.
Why do you care about the ocean and biodiversity?
I’m not restricting myself to the ocean or the biodiversity of the oceans, per se. I’m concerned about the human impact on the whole planet and how people are divided on the topic while we all sail the same ship. I’m also rather pragmatic in my approach, not so much following the crowds and slogans. I prefer to be well informed and have a constructive attitude aimed at solving problems and going forward.
What is your favorite sea creature?
I’ve been diving on the Great Barrier Reef, snorkeling in Thailand, the Dominican Republic, and Galapagos. I’ve been whale watching in Hawai’i and many other places… I wouldn’t know if I have a favorite. What I like most when diving/snorkeling is the diversity of creatures, big and small, from a small echinoderm, or a fish defending it’s nest, to a shark or a whale.
Where can we find more about your work?
For the more boring stats, please look here on
