Grad School Projects

I began graduate school with one clear goal in mind. I wanted to learn more about microbiology. Rather than focusing on individual organisms, my undergraduate experience (specifically, my Immunology Professor Dr. FUNK) helped shift my interest to trying to understand the community dynamics that exist between important individuals and other members of the population. These other individuals may be overlooked but could still contribute significantly to processes.

What makes this research difficult is that the tools available aren’t really showing you the entire picture, but small parts of the story at a time. New tools were slowly becoming more widespread and available to get closer to making more direct observations possible.

Initially I imagined that my interest would take me more towards a clinical application to the questions I was interested in answering. Although, it makes sense now, at the time I never imagined that my work would center more around the impact of microbial communities on the environment.

My program had many other laboratories whose focus was primarily questions centered around freshwater aquatic biology. Naturally, my interest shifted and my primary focus began to be centered around microbes from freshwater ecosystems.

The thing that I loved the most about my field was that I had a good balance between fieldwork and laboratory experiments. Maybe not so much of a work life balance, as I spent hours working to support myself, working in the lab, taking classes, and feeling like any free time I was not dedicating to my work was a waste of time. It was so much work but it was worth it, I was able to work on and contribute to a number of different projects I really cared about. Things that could make a difference.

IT WAS OCTOBER

Two years after starting my program I finally secured funding, I was flying to NY to meet with a scientist who was going to help me set up the main project for my thesis.

I came to the Cary Institute

The goal was for me to get everything ready for a field experiment that we were going to set up in Baltimore. In a couple of different streams that were monitored as part of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. This was a pivot from my original project, which was supposed to focus primarily on field-applied biosolids. However, the prospect of studying the impact of humans on vital ecosystem processes was exciting.

I stayed at an empty cabin

I was meant for summer interns. I had a couple of long days to get everything together. The second goal was to work with my collaborators to plan how to actually execute this field experiment and to prepare everything so it was ready to go at the start. We didn’t know if our plan would work, so in order to make it worth my time, we also came up with some backup contingencies just in case not everything went according to plan.

By the end of the week, we got together with a couple of other scientists from the institute to make the drive from Millbrook NY to Baltimore Maryland.

The goal of my project was to better understand the impact of human activity (measured by a list of different chemicals) on freshwater microbial communities and their activity.

I woke up the morning after arriving in Baltimore. It was my 25th birthday and I was standing in shallow water. I was here doing exactly what I felt like I should be doing.

This was at a time of my life when I did not question where I was supposed to be or what I was supposed to be doing. Years later I would lose myself again and forget this feeling.

This was my life

For a couple of years.

No day was the same as another. I had one priority, research. Designing and contributing to projects to answer interesting questions. I focused on conducting experiments, I worked to get results and I analyzed them. The goal was to better understand microbial processes related to nutrient cycling in the environment.

A mix of working in the field and days spent in the laboratory. Collaborating with a mix of researchers from completely different fields. Training and working with undergrads. I was challenged to develop methods that the lab had not run before.

Not having to worry about anything except the scientific process.

I enjoyed this so much

Finding creative ways to answer a questions. For someone who is always searching for a creative outlet. It was nice to have something in my chosen profession to involve creativity in a way I couldn’t have imagined at first.

With a purpose

I was drawn to this field after finding out how much I enjoyed microbiology in college. Understanding the role played by microbes in processes essential to all other trophic levels in the environment.

All ecosystems are limited by the availability of nutrients, can also be damaged uncontrolled nutrient enrichment resulting form human activities. In all instances, microbial communities are responsible for facilitating the availability of nutrients and can also play a distinct role in their removal.

As much as I hated it

During my time in graduate school, I did not like how long it was taking me to finish. I felt like obtaining my degree was the main goal that was always just beyond reach. Because of this, I failed to appreciate everything around it.

I learned from my mistakes. But one of the most important things I got out of my time in grad school, was that life was happening all around me. While it is nice to be focused on or working towards a goal, it should not be something that is all consuming and takes me out of enjoying my life.

Since then, I think I have gotten better. I’ve been focused on getting back into doing something related to the field that I invested so much time in. But at the same time, I have been careful to make sure I am LIVING.