Girl Science: Dr. Johanna Vernon, an eminent and still-active 80 year PhD limnologist (water biologist) is interviewed for a biography by her grand niece, Dr. Lois Allen, a well-regarded up-and-coming academic historian who writes about her great aunt as one of the “forgotten women of science.” As a reluctant participant at first, and then more and more willingly, Johanna reveals details of her past to Lois, including stories from her seemingly charmed childhood. But when Lois discovers a childhood tragedy she believes haunts and inspires Johanna still, she opens a wound that alters the lives of both women.