Becoming amphibious: scientists’ identities and affective relations in the swamp of computational biology

Computing and data science have permeated diverse fields of knowledge in recent decades. In biology the change has been especially noticeable, as very large data sets are revising how science is done. How do interdisciplinary scientists understand and manage the interweaving of computation and biology? What interpretations do they draw about changes to their professional identities and positions, and how do they negotiate these identities and positions in practice? Uncertain identity is a persistent professional struggle that scientists negotiate in a complex professional, institutional, and epistemic landscape. Disciplinary identities are becoming more hybrid, and affective and relational practices are becoming more central. A common career strategy for computational biologists is to develop a distinct ecological ‘niche’ that is valuable to others; this does not resolve indeterminacy about professional identity, but it anchors a reworking of the professional values of ‘good science’ in the direction of more collaboration and mutuality. Thus, in place of the common ‘spectrum’ metaphor, computational biology is better likened to a swamp–a rich and fluid site with many adaptations–and in which scientists are developing more amphibious identities and modes of doing science, at least in this historical phase of the field.