In this episode, we\u2019ll discuss the impact of crisis, specifically conflict, on an individual scientist, Dr Alaa Hamdon from Mosul, Iraq. Recorded over a series of voice notes during power cuts in Iraq, we spoke to Alaa about his experience before, during and after ISIS\u2019 takeover of Mosul in June 2014. We discuss the impact of the crisis on his personal, academic and professional life, as well as the important rebuilding of what Alaa has labeled \u2018the lighthouse of knowledge\u2019, Mosul University\u2019s Library.