Janelia Theory Fellow Recruitment Campaign
Communications strategy, webpage design, content writing, photography, and channel management for a multi-year academic recruitment campaign
-
Strategy, web copy, email design, social graphics, print materials, and photography across multiple recruitment cycles
-
Refining the program's narrative and visual identity cycle over cycle, grounded in direct research into what the role and the right applicant actually look like
-
Program leadership, group leaders, and cross-departmental teams (e.g., internal communications review, People & Culture)
The Theory Fellow program recruits early-career scientists looking to apply computation and theory to biological problems, into a position that has more independence than a typical postdoc, while still embedded within a lab. That combination made the role hard to explain and hard to target, so before building the webpage or the broader strategy, I interviewed Computation & Theory group leaders who had hosted fellows, current fellows themselves, and program stakeholders, to understand the role from every angle and get a clear picture of who the ideal applicant actually was.
That research shaped everything that followed. I rebuilt the recruitment webpage from the ground up, sharpened the messaging to reflect what the role actually involved, and refreshed the visual identity across every channel to match, pairing the content with my own photography of scientists and research spaces so applicants could picture themselves in the role. I worked with People & Culture to target job ads toward computational schools and top job boards, posted the role to specialized communities like Women in Machine Learning, and ran paid ads through LinkedIn and ISCB, a computational biology organization, alongside direct outreach at conferences.
To build social proof for prospective applicants, I conducted Q&A interviews with current Theory Fellows, turning their firsthand perspective into content that gave applicants an authentic sense of the experience. The full campaign also included branded and personal email outreach, an outreach toolkit for group leaders, and social content across multiple platforms.
Completed applications grew year over year across the campaign.
Capturing computation, collaboration & curiosity on camera.
After developing the campaign calendar and strategy each cycle, I captured new, branded images for use across socials, web, email campaigns, outreach toolkits, and internal awareness channels. I scheduled photo sessions with real Theory Fellows along with their collaborators.
The challenge is to capture the essence of the program in a visual medium: it is exceptionally collaborative, computationally focused, and attracts those that are curious about answering biological questions.
Web strategy
Rebuilt the Theory Fellow program's recruitment page from scratch, using custom HTML and CSS to create responsive, branded sections on janelia.org (hosted on Cloudflare). I restructured the page around what prospective applicants need to know, including the level of independence, the qualifications sought, and what a fellow's experience looks like. I paired that content with my own photography of scientists and research spaces, so applicants can picture themselves in the role.
Visuals & copy that convey the unique focus of the program
For each cycle, I drafted social media cards, PowerPoint inserts, digital signage for employee awareness, and other branded materials, drafting concise copy that encapsulates the essence of the program to capture the right applicant.
Storytelling & social proof
Q&A features and first-person perspectives from current fellows, developed to give prospective applicants a genuine, credible sense of what the experience is really like. I interviewed three current Theory Fellows and drafted web content and social media posts to drive interest off and on-season. I also pulled quotes for use on the web.
Internal awareness
To build visibility within the institute, this campaign combined digital signage placed throughout the building, asking staff to share the opportunity with their networks, with personal email outreach to current Theory Fellows and to Computation & Theory group leaders, and an announcement in the institute's weekly Sunday newsletter to reach the broader community.
Recruitment toolkit to maximize personal networks
Campaign analysis from the 2023 and 2024 cycle revealed that the strongest applicants came from personal networks. In preparation for the 2025 cycle, I built out a self-serve toolkit page on the Janelia employee intranet system to maximize the effectiveness of personal networks by providing ready-made assets for use by Janelia employees.
These included: PowerPoint inserts for promoting the program at scientific talks, social media cards to be used on personal accounts, and QR codes to be printed and used during poster sessions.
Email Campaigns
-
A branded email sent to the institute's subscriber list, announcing the search and asking recipients to share it with their own networks.
-
A personal email I drafted for leadership to send to C&T group leaders, who are well positioned to recommend strong candidates.
-
An announcement in the institute's weekly Sunday newsletter, reaching the broader community.
-
A personal email from me to current Theory Fellows, asking them to share the opportunity within their own networks.
Social Media Campaigns
Organic and paid social content developed across multiple platforms, carrying consistent messaging and visual identity from launch through the final application deadline. Content evolved cycle over cycle, from general announcement posts in earlier years to more specific, audience-tailored messaging in later cycles that spoke directly to the kind of work fellows would actually be doing.
Executing campaigns in a dynamic environment
Recruitment doesn't always follow the plan, and this campaign is a good example of what I bring to the table when it doesn't: the ability to adapt quickly, make sound decisions under pressure, and keep a project moving with minimal oversight when circumstances shift. Read the full case study to see how a compressed timeline for the 2025 campaign and a sudden change in scope became an opportunity to rebuild, replan, and deliver two campaigns at once.