This week I gave notice that I would be terminating my employment at Promega. This was a very difficult decision as I have really enjoyed the past six years here. While I am leaving Biotech, I will not be leaving science all together. Over the past few years, I have used my research, analytical, and organizational skills to assist various non-profit organizations in the community. My primary focus will be on reform of the criminal justice system and racial disparities. Spreading the word about this decision has resulted in a number of responses (overwhelmingly positive) including the comment that I am going soft! This got me thinking about where the terms hard and soft science came from. Continue reading “She’s Going Soft! – A commentary on “hard” and “soft” sciences”
Author: Karen Reece
5 Signs You’re Ready to Earn that Ph.D.
5. No one in your family bothers to ask you what you’re studying anymore.
The longer you spend in a Ph.D. program the more opportunities your family has to ask you what you’re doing in school. No doubt, you’ve spent the first couple years of graduate school going to family functions and trying to explain to your grandma what a molecule is. She will eventually come up with an explanation of what you are doing that she can share with her friends. Her description of your work may or may not be correct, but she’s not going to bother trying to understand it anymore. “Good for your honey, you’re so smart!”
4. Your former life as a bartender or grocery store clerk starts to sound really appealing. Continue reading “5 Signs You’re Ready to Earn that Ph.D.”
Cholesterol Management and the Importance of Diversity in Clinical Trials
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (1), 50% of women in the US have high or border line cholesterol levels and cholesterol level tends to increase as we age. Most of you are probably aware that cholesterol levels are important for health. Cholesterol is a waxy, sticky molecule that is a very important part of your cellular make up, so cholesterol is essential for life. However, if we have too much cholesterol circulating in our blood, it can build up along artery walls and create blockages (plaques) leading to heart attacks or strokes.
Continue reading “Cholesterol Management and the Importance of Diversity in Clinical Trials”The Ocular Mood Ring
I asked my Facebook friends what my blog post should cover today. They gave me a list of very creative subjects that I will try to cover in the coming months. The winning suggestion for today is “why do my eyes change color depending on my mood?” In a simple Google search, it is apparent that many people have witnessed the phenomenon of their eyes changing color depending on their moods.There seem to be many explanations for this from light scattering to hormonal influences to psychic powers. What’s the real story? To get to the bottom of this, let’s take a closer look at how eye color is determined in the first place. Continue reading “The Ocular Mood Ring”
Vegetable Gardening for Beginners
You may have read several posts on this blog relating to the non-spring-like weather we have been experiencing here in the Midwest. Well, it’s still cold, but the weather has to break sooner or later and that concept has me so excited to get my garden going! Have you ever considered gardening? Are you new to gardening? You may have considered it and gotten overwhelmed by the details- What class should I take? What books should I read? What do I do?
I am here to tell you to Just Do It! There is nothing like watching your own food grow and then eating it. Things have been growing in the dirt since the beginning of time with no help from humans, so if you approach your garden project with this in mind and just aim to take it lightly, gardening can be really fun! I got started about four years ago only because someone at work left a flat full of different seedlings and a sign that said help yourself. I waited until the end of the day and only a few disappeared, so I carried the whole flat home on the bus and got started with just a 4´ × 4´ plot. Here are some beginner tips; just things I’ve learned over the last few years, that may help you get started. All these tips will be from a Madison, WI, perspective, but should be applicable anywhere in the midwest. Continue reading “Vegetable Gardening for Beginners”
The Overachiever’s Kryptonite a.k.a. The Migraine Headache
Sometimes I feel like a super hero: taking on several projects at once and testing my ability to multitask and schedule to accomplish all my goals on time with quality work. When I get on a roll, I feel like no one and nothing can stop me. Like any super hero, however, I have my Kryptonite: the migraine headache. When the migraine comes on, my progress is brought to a complete halt and I am powerless. Light becomes unbearable, sound becomes intolerable, and I feel like a hatchet has sliced through my cerebrum and is lodged in my skull. For years, I suffered from these headaches and felt totally helpless. When the migraine came on, all I could do was lay in a dark, silent room, sometimes for days, praying for relief, as no over-the-counter medication could touch the pain. Continue reading “The Overachiever’s Kryptonite a.k.a. The Migraine Headache”
Networking for Scientists Part III: Tips and Tricks for Online Social Networks
It’s 2012. Odds are you’re on a social networking site. And if you’re not, you need to be! At least for your job search. There are two kinds of social networkers: those who post every tiny detail that happens in their lives and those who do not. For the job search, you want to be somewhere in the middle. How you tailor your online profiles is very important. While you can keep the most stringent privacy settings, you never know who you know and you never know who will see what you post. An often overlooked fact about the internet that you should always remember is that everything you post is public! Always expect that potential employers WILL Google you.
That said, social networking can be a very powerful tool for the job search. Continue reading “Networking for Scientists Part III: Tips and Tricks for Online Social Networks”
Networking for Scientists Part II: How to Get a Job (Hopefully)
Times are hard. Unemployment is high. Networking and maintaining job-relevant connections is more important than ever. Employers literally get hundreds of applications for each job posting. One of the most useful ways to make yourself stand out in a crowd (besides things like credentials and resumes) is to have a personal recommendation. In my last post, I talked about the importance of making small talk (no matter how scary it seems!). Here, we’ll take it a step further. Once you’ve met new people and added them to your contacts list and perhaps your social networking sites, how can you use these contacts to help you achieve your goals? Continue reading “Networking for Scientists Part II: How to Get a Job (Hopefully)”
Networking for Scientists Part I: How I Learned to Talk to Strangers
When thinking about career opportunities in science (and in any field really), solid networking skills can be the key factor in determining where and how you’ll be spending your next holiday. Networking breaks down into two parts: small talk/meeting people and establishing/maintaining job-relevant connections. Neither of these things are rocket science, but can be particularly difficult depending on your personality. I realized early on that if I wanted to stay up on the latest, unpublished results, if I wanted to find out what other labs were working on, or if I wanted to know who was looking to fill a position before it was listed, I would need to master this skill. It took lots of practice, but I now consider myself pretty darn good at this networking thing. I even used the same strategies I used in the science world to build a network in the local music scene and it worked! In this post, the first of two parts, I will address small talk. Continue reading “Networking for Scientists Part I: How I Learned to Talk to Strangers”
Paying it Forward: Pour a Pint at Work With the American Red Cross
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had several people close to me- friends and family, that have fallen ill, had surgery or car accidents and needed blood transfusions to stay alive. The reason my friends and family were able to overcome those situations was plain and simple: other people took time out of their busy schedules to donate blood. Your body holds about 10 pints of blood, and the typical donation is one pint. Your body will replenish the lost blood in about two months. If you give only one hour of your time every 56 days, your donation can save up to three lives!
If you choose to donate, Red Cross staff will collect personal information like your name and social security number. You will be asked to answer a series of questions about your health and lifestyle to determine if you are eligible to donate. Collection of information is done in private and is kept highly confidential. Once your blood is collected, there is no personal information on the label. Your blood will be screened to ensure safety and will be labeled with a tracking number that can be used only if you need to be contacted regarding test results.
What if you don’t qualify to give blood? After all, only 38% of the population is eligible to give blood. You may have travelled or gotten a tattoo and been deferred from donation for a year. Maybe you have an illness or engaged in risky behavior that prevents you from donating. Maybe you just hate needles. You can still help! The Red Cross always needs volunteers to help coordinate drives or to serve refreshments to donors after they have finished. If you’re not sure if you should give blood, you can find the information on the Red Cross website, call and speak to a Red Cross representative, or ask one of the nurses at a blood drive.
At Promega, we have quarterly drives organized faithfully by the women we call “The Marys.” Mary Doers, Mary Sobol, and Mary Upshaw have been coordinating these drives for years. Mary S. and Mary U. share their thoughts. Continue reading “Paying it Forward: Pour a Pint at Work With the American Red Cross”
