About Toyo University Professor's Scoop:Megu Gunji(Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences)
The academic world is continuing to undergo an extensive, in-depth evolution.
What view does a Toyo University faculty member devoted to education and research have on the contemporary world?
Following your passion for a living. Pursuing this complex topic which seems easy, is perhaps also part of the work of a researcher.
We interviewed Assistant Professor Megu Gunji from the Faculty of Life Sciences about how to think and live in a way that allows you to do what you love for a living. Dr. Gunji has been fascinated with giraffes since she was a child and now specializes in giraffe research.
Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences
Megu Gunji
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Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Assistant Professor. Being fond of animals since a young age, She had researched giraffes, which she had a special affection for, during her master's and doctoral program at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Consequently, at the age of 27, she achieved her dream of becoming a giraffe expert. Dr. Gunji has been in her current role since April 2021, following a spell working at the National Museum of Nature and Science as a Research Fellow (PD) at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science from 2017 to 2020, and working at Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems at the University of Tsukuba at a Research Fellow from 2020 to 2021. She specializes in comparative anatomy and morphology of tetrapods. Dr. Gunji is currently researching the evolution of the structure and functionality in the necks of mammals and birds. She discovered that giraffes have an eighth “neck” vertebrae, not seen in other mammals. As a result, Dr. Gunji was awarded the 7th JSPS Ikushi Prize. She has written books such as “A Record of Giraffe Anatomy” (Published by Natsumesha).
１.Passing the baton of life onto living animals by learning through dissection.
I have loved animals since I was a child, and giraffes were my favorite. I don’t have a clear recollection, but according to my parents, I liked animals with a unique appearance, such as having big heads, long necks, or big noses. I began my research on giraffes when I was a graduate student, and in the ten years since, I have dissected around 30 individuals. My research mostly focuses on neck structure.
We dissect animals that have been donated from zoos after their natural death. We divide the body into individual parts, such as the legs and neck, and record the structure of the muscle and bone and how they move. Some people may think this is cruel. However, we dissect the animals responsibly, and we accept with great care not only the animals whose bodies have been donated to us, but also the wishes of the zookeepers. The zookeepers have raised the animals with care and want their bodies to benefit society.
For example, there are cases where large animals die due to leg injuries. In the wild, their hooves are trimmed naturally, but this sometimes doesn’t happen in zoos. As a result, the animals can get injured due to changes in how they walk. Detailed investigation of dead animals will allow us to predict injuries in living animals and take action to enable animals to live healthier and longer lives in zoos. If we do nothing, dead animals will rot in the ground, so I think we should use this life to benefit animals living now.
２.There are many jobs related to your passion.
At first, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian. But when I was a high school student, I became aware that there are situations where vets sometimes have no choice but to put animals down. Doing everything you can to save the lives of animals or not interfering so that animals can live out their natural lifespan. I’m not talking about which is right. But for me, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to be confident that I made the right choice, no matter which choice I took. So, I gave up trying to become a vet. However, I really wanted to work with animals, and I told many people that I wanted to research giraffes. That led me to think that I could continue giraffe research through anatomy. This was the beginning of my journey to become a researcher.I want students to try to look for what kind of jobs are available that are related to their passions. For me, I thought a zookeeper was the only job at the zoo. But as I became more involved, I found out about zoo PR and that there were zoos that hired designers to create exhibits and advertisements within the zoo. Do you feel like jobs related to animals are science-based? If you allow your preconceptions to take precedence, this will reduce the number of opportunities available to you in the future. Work is completed with the involvement of many people. There are many cases where there are connections to your passion from unexpected fields.
３.If you will experience the same challenges anyway, it is better to choose something you are passionate about.
No matter what job you do, you are bound to come across challenges. I don’t think there is any job that comes without challenges. I thought that if the same challenges would occur anyway, I would be able to persevere if I was doing something I was passionate about. I am growing more fond of giraffes as I research more about them. I feel happy interacting with my passion and making discoveries daily. Also, I feel very comfortable in my job as even if our fields of study differ, I am surrounded by many researchers who are similarly pursuing their passions. You could say that an advantage of making your passion your work is that you will often work with people who have the same determination as you.People often ask me if you can really make a living by simply following your passion. But what exactly is a stable life? One of my friends quit after three years working at a famous company known by everyone and where many people want to work. Nowadays, all kinds of companies are facing financial difficulties due to the impact of COVID-19. It is impossible to predict what will happen in the current environment. I don’t think you can have confidence that you will have job security for life with one company. But if you become truly proficient in something you are passionate about, someone may truly need your skills in the future. You may even be able to create an entirely new type of job. I believe that with your passion as your energy, developing a way of seeing things and ideas that are unique to yourself is going to bring you closer to a stable life.
４.Search for something important to you, centered on your passion.
Students often tell me that they cannot find anything they want to do, or they don’t know what they are passionate about. As you develop into an adult from a teenager, I think we get embarrassed about saying “I love this!” in front of others. But our feelings tend to become dull as we put a lid on our emotions like this. I am sure that we all have moments where we get excited about everyday things such as music or books that we like. It is important to be aware of moments where you can feel that you like something, and I want students to start by trying to be aware of their feelings.
I was able to turn my passion into work, but not everyone has to make their passion their career. Instead, it is important to think about the future while placing importance on how you want to live your life. I think becoming a giraffe specialist and working at a company that has two days off a week and then always going to the zoo on your days off, are both wonderful ways of living. When thinking about your future, try to use your passion as the basis for making decisions. “I’m okay if I can pursue my passion with my hobbies,” or “maybe this is my calling.” Expanding your mindset focusing on your passions like this will enable you to find jobs related to your passions in ways you couldn’t conceive. You will also become aware of how people with the same hobbies as you spend their lives.
“We Asked Giraffe Expert Megu Gunji, About the Unknown Secrets Hidden in the Body of the Giraffe” is now available on the online media LINK@TOYO. (English unavailable)
