Marine geologist Tang Limei has been making waves in the world of deep-sea exploration for more than a decade. Now she’s making a splash on social media, too.
The 44-year-old, who has conducted research in Antarctica and at almost 3,000 meters beneath the ocean’s surface, now has more than 750,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, for her short dramas incorporating complex scientific topics.
Once seen only in textbooks and news reports about her exploits, as the Ministry of Natural Resources’ chief science communication expert, Tang is attempting to use geographical knowledge to help younger audiences develop mature, independent views on relationships and self-awareness.
Balancing act
In early March, to coincide with International Women’s Day, Tang posted an article on Douyin describing her experiences growing up in Baoding’s rural Lixian County, in the northern Hebei province.
Her mother had left her home thousands of miles away in the southwestern Sichuan province to marry her father in Hebei, a show of courage that has influenced Tang throughout her own life. Her farmer parents believed that study was the route to success, so even when the family was so strapped for cash that they had to use rope for belts, they always found money for her tuition.
Tang didn’t let them down: In 2010, she obtained a Ph.D. in geology from Zhejiang University.
Three years later, she made history as the first Chinese woman to complete a deep-ocean research mission. As a crewmember of the Jiaolong submersible, she conducted geological surveys at a depth of 2,774 meters in the Western Pacific, bringing back cobalt-rich crusts, sediments, and various biological samples.
Tang was also part of China’s 34th Antarctic Research Expedition, setting sail on the Xuelong icebreaker in 2017 for a six-month journey filled with challenges including the Roaring Forties – strong westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere that can be a navigational nightmare. Even as huge waves pounded the ship’s hull and temperatures plummeted, she never stopped collecting data.
In her Douyin article, Tang also shared how she has striven to be a good mother, recalling the heartbreak of embarking on the Antarctic trip when her daughter was just 1 year old. When she returned, she found the girl had become exceptionally timid, constantly clinging to her grandfather. “Is it really impossible to balance family and a career? I don’t think so,” Tang would tell herself.
Since then, the scientist has taken her daughter along on every short business trip and tries to schedule out-of-town lectures on weekends. When they are separated, Tang will help her daughter with her homework via a video call. “I believe a mom can always find a solution,” she says.
With work and family life, Tang is attempting to prove that women can play a role in hardcore scientific research while also balancing time-consuming parental duties.
From shore to shorts
In fact, Tang’s daughter was her first pop science fan. To educate her little girl on deep-sea creatures, Tang used to make up adventures based on her experiences aboard the Jiaolong.
Over the years, she has been gradually honing her skills in science communication – teaching at schools for the children of migrant workers and sharing experiences at summer camps, turning often-dull geological knowledge into vivid stories.
“Science shouldn’t be locked in laboratories – it should be in everyone’s life,” Tang says.
In December, she formed a team of young content creators to explore more ways to reach wider audiences. This has led to a series of engaging, campus-based ultrashort dramas that combine science and social topics.
In the first video, Tang plays a geography teacher who is inspired to give a lesson in the geographical distortions of the Mercator projection – the cylindrical map projection of the Earth created in the 16th century – after seeing a boy pass a love note in class that reads, “You are like my North Pole, as all directions point to you.”
The content quickly went viral on Douyin, with many netizens appreciating the effort to “educate through entertainment.” The nine subsequent videos from Tang’s team have all incorporated detailed geographical knowledge with engaging plotlines.
Tang is now devising ideas for other disciplines, such as how to explain the mathematical mysteries of the Fibonacci sequence in nature, with plans to film in locations with distinct geographical features.
The road ahead remains full of challenges, but “there are always more solutions than difficulties,” she adds.
Reported by Wu Tong.
A version of this article originally appeared in Jiefang Daily. It has been translated and edited for brevity and clarity, and is republished here with permission.
(Header image: Tang Limei poses with the Xuelong icebreaker, 2017. Courtesy of Tang via Beijing News)
