In our Getting to know us (a.k.a. Teamsembl) blog series we talk to Ensembl colleagues and ask them a series of questions. In February, we interviewed Natalie Willhoft, who recently took over the role of project leader of the Ensembl Automation team. Join us as we learn more about Natalie’s role, what she did before joining Ensembl and find out the exciting things she does with her family in her freetime.
When did you join and what is your job in Ensembl?
I joined the Ensembl Infrastructure team in September 2020 as a software developer. When I first started, we mostly worked on maintaining and developing parts of the Core Perl API. This then evolved into working on rewriting Ensembl Perl scripts in Python and Nextflow. I was also a release coordinator for the Infrastructure team; teams have tasks to complete for each Ensembl release cycle, and the coordinator works within their team and across teams to ensure these are carried out. I really enjoy interacting with people across Ensembl and learning about how our teams all work together to produce each Ensembl release.
As of February 2025, I was really excited to start my new role as Ensembl Automation project leader. The Automation team, formerly known as the Production team, sits at the interface between the data teams and the Web/Platform teams. Our team is involved in receiving data from teams, running data analysis pipelines, software development, and distributing these data over to teams. Automation looks after the release processes for the current website and the new beta website, and I’m looking forward to achieving goals with the Automation team and supporting the broader objectives of the Ensembl project.
What are you currently working on?
Having recently moved into the Automation team, numerous exciting projects are being worked on. One software development project I’ve been working on is rewriting a pipeline that maps Ensembl stable IDs between old and new genome assemblies. The current pipeline is written in Perl, and I’m rewriting it in Python and Nextflow. The current pipeline has software that isn’t maintained anymore, so it’s been a great project for lots of planning and problem-solving to make sure the new pipeline is achieving at least the same (if not better) results. The project is in the testing phase, and I’m looking forward to working with various teams to create a product that will benefit the production of any data containing stable ID mapping information.
What did you do before joining Ensembl?
Before joining Ensembl, I worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at University College London. This was in Professor Christine Orengo’s research group, where I completed my PhD in Computational Biology. I was part of the CATH-GENE3D team, which maintained and developed this resource. My research background was in protein structural bioinformatics and computational biology, specifically relating to studying the evolution of protein structural domains. I also studied metagenomics and worked to functionally annotate various datasets with protein structural domains.
How did you get into bioinformatics?
It’s amazing for me to think that I’ve spent the last 20 years in the field of bioinformatics. How time flies! Since secondary school, I have really enjoyed science and IT, and I was excited to discover that I could continue studying these subjects in a Bioinformatics undergraduate degree. I was also looking for a way to learn about biology and computer science without having to do the lab work, and this degree was a great fit for me! Following that, I wanted to get more into bioinformatics research, so I did an MRes. in Computational Biology at the University of York and then a PhD in Computational Biology at University College London. EMBL-EBI was a place mentioned in my studies since my undergraduate, so it feels very special to be working here now!
How do you balance work and personal life while working at Ensembl?
Since having kids, I’ve found it a lot simpler to balance my work and personal life. I have to pick them up at a certain time after work, so I’m a lot more productive and focused at work to get things done during the day, and then we all have our family time at the end of the day. We really enjoy our weekends together and meeting up with friends and family.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work, I really enjoy hobbies such as swimming, hiking, baking, gardening, and knitting. Since joining EMBL-EBI in 2020 and moving over to the area post-lockdown, I’ve really enjoyed exploring the local and wider areas with my family. I very much enjoy going for walks and exploring new places. In the summer, we had a great family holiday in Norfolk at the seaside. As well as knitting, I also enjoy crocheting and cross-stitching. I work on a cardigan and some cross-stitch pieces when I get a spare minute! With spring coming soon, I’m experimenting with growing various flowers from seed for the garden and planning which vegetables we’re going to try to grow this year.
