Lab Philosophy

1. Teamwork — While each student will have their own individual project to oversee, I expect everyone to be very collaborative and contribute to each other projects and to help the lab function overall. Especially because we are a new lab, I’m expecting an “all hands on deck” approach so everyone can learn all the different skills we use in the lab and everyone will have the chance to contribute to ALL the ongoing projects. Teamwork includes clear communication and being a reliable member of the group.

2. Teaching/mentorship — Because we are all in this together, everyone has the opportunity to teach other students (and me!) new skills they’ve learned. As we are building our team, I expect older students to help out new students and teach them. And remember, we are all scientists–we are never done learning!

3. Hard work — I expect everyone to bring their best work and dedicate their time to the lab. However, I do not expect people to live in the lab! Science is hard and there’s lots that will go “wrong” before you get it working. I want everyone to be as efficient as possible with their time. I expect dedication, hard work and demonstrable progress, and I do encourage students to enjoy their downtime and unwind.

4. Inclusiveness and respect — There is absolutely NO excuse for any form of discrimination, harassment, disrespect or bullying in or outside of the lab. We have a ZERO tolerance policy.

5. Rigor and preparedness — I am stickler for the details! I expect all students to do a thorough job preparing for their experiments. That means making sure you’ve considered all the tiny details of your experiments and are planning for all the necessary controls. This also means we can count on each other and each student is dependable to follow their schedules, clean up after themselves, maintain shared equipment and show up on time.

6. Common courtesy and positive attitude — I expect everyone to take on an attitude encompassing these beliefs and “leave the lab in better condition than how they found it.” This extends beyond cleaning up after experiments and includes your interactions with your group members and our collaborators, colleagues and visitors.

Expectations

What you can expect from me:

Help you feel prepared for chosen career path post graduate school
Encourage you to use your coursework and research for your projects
Encourage and help aid you in networking and taking advantage of university resources
Will offer feedback on papers and experimental plans
Meet with you on a regular basis to discuss project and goals

What I expect from you:

Read and interpret literature on your own
Work on experimental plans outside of lab and personal meetings
Meet deadlines and work diligently to make progress on your projects
Be open to share mistakes, failures, and struggles in the lab
Attend all lab meetings, larger BMT group meetings, seminars or training workshops available
Apply for fellowships when you have the opportunity
Contribute to publications as either a first author or team member (can be through helping conduct experiments or editing manuscripts)
Be an organized and well-documented lab member and keep a detailed lab notebook
Keep lab clean, inventory updated, and share all electronic results in the shared drive
Adhere to our lab philosophy