Meet Jenna Harris: The Ideal Crypto Origin Story and ETHDenver ALPHA
An inspiring story of how to go all-in in crypto 💁♀️
🤩 Meet a real, crypto-funded scientist at ETH Denver
Dr. Joshua Johnson is many things - he is an accomplished researcher in charge of one of the leading labs in reproductive longevity and is also AthenaDAO’s second-funded research IP-NFT.
If you are in Colorado for ETHDenver, we invite you 🫵 to join Laura Minquini, AthenaDAO core lead, in conversation with Dr. Joshua Johnson on how AthenaDAO leverages their funding mechanisms to get money into women’s health and reproductive longevity.
Join our telegram chat to make sure you get notifications and reminders!
🧬 Meet Jenna Harris, Science & Dealflow Lead 🪩
As a key member of the Science and Dealflow team at AthenaDAO, Jenna uses her molecular biology expertise to communicate science and evaluate projects for the DAO. She joined AthenaDAO because she was excited to be part of a group dedicated to bridging the funding gap in women’s health research.
Witnessing loved ones navigate conditions like PCOS and miscarriage without adequate support fueled Jenna's commitment to women's health and gave her a way to “direct (her) anger accordingly.”
As a true believer in crypto and web3, Jenna embraces DeSci's potential to disrupt scientific inefficiencies, promote diversity in the field, and benefit all of society. Her hope is that better understanding female biology will also unlock breakthroughs in longevity, immunity, and tissue regeneration.
We interviewed her about her web3 journey because she is a success story. From contributor to Science & Dealflow lead, her curiosity, willingness to help, and initiative propelled her to a job in web3 👇
Q. Did you consider yourself to be financially literate before Web3?
A. Nope. Not at all. I am originally from the poorest region in the US, the South. My early years were spent in a trailer park, though my dad worked hard to grow his construction business until we ultimately were able to move into a nice suburban home. In 2008, we foreclosed on the house. In my senior year of high school, I moved around and attended 3 schools, even dropping out at one point out of frustration. To improve my situation I believed in playing the long game, as being from the Atlanta area exposed me to fast lifestyles which led to cautiousness (ex. witnessing hip hop artists quickly rise and fall). I enrolled in community college, moving on to a state university, where I then made the decision to continue onto a Molecular and Cellular Biology Ph.D. in Massachusetts.
During my Ph.D. I began to come to terms with the ultra-long term decisions I made. I quickly realized that I did not want to continue my journey in academia. It is such a sacrifice to accept the low pay as a postdoc, a requirement along the way to becoming a professor. Simultaneously, I was exposed to the world of biotech by being in Boston. Industry sounded like a much better option. Approaching my late 20s, with no retirement or savings, I knew I needed to make a change.
Q. When did you become interested in Web3?
A. My journey in Web3 began in 2020, after the Covid-19 market crash. I slowly began to educate myself on how the stock market works. This was a tedious task but I was motivated. I wanted to gain financial literacy, to the point that I could generate wealth, which felt like a foreign concept. Learning about the stock market quickly led to frustration. Restrictions around margin trading, learning that IPOs are major exits for early investors (so, not great for retail investors), and the slow returns through index funds were good for persevering wealth, not creating it.
To paint the scene, this was in the middle of my Ph.D. and I was growing frustrated with living on a stipend in the Boston area, pandemic induced lockdown with many roommates was not ideal. I was forced to quickly wrap up all wet lab work and focus on learning bioinformatics and beginning research on SARS-CoV-2.
From spending so much time online, already learning about the stock market and how to program for bioinformatics, when I came across crypto it was obvious.
Crypto, and more specifically Decentralized Finance (DeFi), was intriguing as it aimed to address issues around the stock market, personal banking, and granting you custody of your money.
Q. How did you learn to navigate Web3?
A. I am naturally curious and big on self-learning. When I am curious about a subject, I usually begin to look for resources online, from blog posts to YouTube videos to get familiar. Once I feel I have grasped enough of the concept, then I see how I can do something more practical to test my knowledge. I began doing tutorials on Coinbase, which are still offered to this day. From these tutorials, I received various tokens, which I eventually sent to my MetaMask wallet on chain.
What is funny, is I actually did not use Ethereum much to begin with. As you begin to learn to transact on chain, you are encountered with gas fees. It seems a natural tendency for beginners is to find a chain with lower fees, so for me at the time it was Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and later Solana. PancakeSwap on BSC was a personal favorite.
Using other chains was nice in the beginning but to be honest, later in the bull market I regretted not spending more time on Ethereum. This is where most of the volume happens and where most developers are building. Those are two key metrics to consider as you explore other chains - is it where other people want to put their money and are they actively building there?
Q. What advice would you give to someone starting out?
A. Be curious, cautious, and open-minded. I have noticed that there are a few angles that resonate with those new to Web3 from simply looking to invest (whether in the short-term or long-term), the blockchain technology itself or philosophy around decentralization and trustless systems.
If you are simply looking for an opportunity to invest in this new asset class, I would start by getting familiar with the past market cycles. What is the Bitcoin halving cycle? Is crypto price movement correlated with anything else like the US stock market and the tech industry? Within the crypto market, what themes were popular with each cycle? DeFi emerged with the advent of Ethereum, as developers began using smart contracts to experiment with finance protocols. Now, we are seeing other themes emerge such as Decentralized Science (DeSci) and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN).
If it is the technology that is interesting, then I recommend exploring multiple blockchains and attempt, at least in the beginning, to be chain-agnostic. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Ethereum L2s like Arbitrum or Optimism all have their pros and cons. If you are a programmer or software developer looking to build a new app, I would get familiar with the tech stacks that exist for each blockchain.
If the philosophy of decentralization is interesting to you, then I recommend learning about various blockchains and looking at the pros and cons of which aligns with your values the most (Some hints: is it to prioritize less energy consumption? Is it to find the network that is the most decentralized? Which is less prohibitive in terms of transaction fees?).
Q. What do you think of NFTs?
A. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) became popular during the last bull market cycle and were heavily debated within the Web3 community. Some are DeFi maxis,
Personally, I loved the pfp collections and the sense of community many NFT projects encourage. I joined communities like Pudgy Penguins and Sappy Seals, and simply thought it was hilarious to see conversation between a bunch of penguins or seals.
Even better, it was an excellent way to network, in a light-hearted manner, as some of these communities attract very talented and clever people from all facets of life.
Q. How did you find DeSci?
A. During the bear market, I looked at my wallets less and less as the days went on. This was also as I was writing my dissertation, so I did not have the bandwidth to stay involved.
Though, when I did occasionally check the market, I began to notice talk around DeSci. Initially, I thought this can’t be real. Crypto and science? How does it work? Are both of my interests really colliding like this?
One thing about crypto is it is poised to disrupt many industries. So, looking back now, DeSci was inevitable.
Early 2023 I decided to attend my first crypto conference, ETH Boston, where I met Laura and learned more about AthenaDAO. The rest is history!
Q. What would you tell someone beginning their Web3 journey?
A. First, be patient with yourself. The crypto space can move at lightning speed. I would identify a few sources to provide news on the space. Also, it is easy to feel FOMO (fear of missing out) but it is essential not to make rush decisions with your money. Because this technology is new, when I am on chain, which is not insured, I always ask myself: Will I be okay if I lose all of this money? Anything can happen (in the stock market as well), from a bug in a protocol, a company scandal, etc.
Last, I encourage everyone to join communities and ask questions. Join Discord, Telegram, and listen to community calls. This is how you will find your tribe, expedite your learning, and find new opportunities.
Say hi to Jenna on our Share the Science channel!
⏳ REMINDER: FILL OUT OUR FERTILITY SURVEY
We want to learn more about what you know about your fertility journey.
This is a pilot qualitative survey to understand more about the current knowledge women of all ages have about their fertility. It should take 10 minutes of your time!
Help us help the scientists! 👩🔬🧬🪩
🇺🇸 AthenaDAO ALPHA at ETHDenver
In Colorado for ETHDenver? Want to join our events and meet our frens in Web3, DeSci and the Athenas? Pre-register to get the Alpha for all the upcoming and exciting events we’ll be putting on from Thursday, February 29th - Sunday, March 3rd, 2024! 👇