Toru Miura, Professor, Misaki Marine Biological Station,
School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Graduated from the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo in 1994. Completed his PhD at the Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo in 1999. Became a postdoctoral fellow of JSPS that same year. Held positions such as an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo and at the Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, before assuming his current position as a professor at the Misaki Marine Biological Station, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo in 2017. In 2016, he published "The Biology of Phenotypic Plasticity: An Introduction to Ecological Development," for which he received the 2021 Zoological Society of Japan Award.

---

Q. What was your favorite subject as a child?
A. Science　
I was interested in insects since my childhood.

 

Q. What were your interests when you were in junior high or high school?
A. Kendo　
I began kendo when I was in the fourth grade and was active in the club throughout junior high and high school.　

 

Q. What books or textbooks would you recommend for students?
A. Beak of the Finch
This work describes the dynamic nature of biological evolution and the researchers who study it. It is an interesting read for anyone interested in biological evolution.　

 

Q. Who is your spiritual mentor?
A. Carpe Diem
In Latin, it means to enjoy the day.　

 

Q. Here's what I like about the University of Tokyo, School of Science!
A. Open-mindeness
The real appeal of School of Science is to pursue the truth, not to be useful to people.　

 

Q. What are your hobbies?
A. Skateboard
I skateboarded a while in my youth, but I got back into it with my daughter at the COVID-19 pandemic, and I'm even more addicted than she is. I think it is a gift of phenotypic plasticity of living things that we can get better at any age.　

 

Q. Do you think you're lucky?
A. Yes
I became a professor at the University of Tokyo even though I was just doing something I enjoyed.　

 

Q. What is your biggest inspiration?
A. Bath, Shower
Hot water improves blood circulation to the brain and is thought to help ideas come to mind.　

 

Q. What if you could reborn?
A. I want to enjoy my life again.
I have so many things I want to do that a lifetime is too short a time.　

 

Message