TrUE Scholars
Thus far, research has given me not only a brand-new outlook on the field of environmental toxicology, but also has made me rethink my own direction in the academic world and my life. I think some of what I have found easy is just being able to ask questions and communicate with the graduate students and professors around me. They have all been extremely helpful with explaining concepts that might be elementary to them in a way that a first year like me can relate to. They have also made this experience fun and interesting; I look forward to showing up each day because not every day is the same and I am excited to see what the new day holds. Although, it is not always this happy stress-free experience, some days it is just sitting and practicing the same concept repeatedly until it is drilled in our brains or doing work such as testing the fish water and feeding fish, that can feel unrewarding. Recently, I got to create the mixes and run a real-time quantitative PCR experiment which gave me a lot of practice with pipetting, which I had not done a lot of before in such small quantities. The process was very time consuming and there were so many components that even a milliliter difference could mess up and unfortunately it did, and a good amount of the results were inconclusive. This was a little disappointing because I worked hours doing the best work I could, and it was not near close enough to the preciseness I need to achieve when I run my own experiment. The staff was reassuring in that these kinds of things do happen, which is nice, but I know I need to improve a substantial amount before I am ready to present any findings in April. On a good note, I have learned a lot more about the applied side of toxicology through seeing other professors' labs and the work they do. I have learned that within the field of toxicology there are many ways that you can take it, from looking at insects, to looking at light, to cancer cells, and to zebrafish, there is no limit to questions that still need to be answered. As I continue in my (hopefully) lengthy career as a researcher, that is enlightening to know that these basics I learn now can have a significant impact on human lives later down the line. In conclusion, I still have a lot to learn as a young, naïve researcher, but I cannot wait to keep learning more about the environment, human health, and myself!