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Category Archives: Your lab group
Do your undergrads actually understand their summer research project?
All over the country, undergraduates are embarking on research projects. They are banding birds, squeezing ticks for parasites, culturing bacteria, seining streams, cutting open mice, and many other things. If you ask them what they are doing, they will be … Continue reading
Posted in Research, Undergraduates, Your lab group
Tagged NSF, REU, scientific method, undergraduate research
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Active learning in research perspectives and science communication
Science is a lot more than measuring and testing ideas. It is a rich social endeavor with its own language, its own standards, its own ethics, and its own literature. Undergraduates miss out if they do not learn this. But … Continue reading
Are rotations really worth it?
I think a rotation is kind of like a trial marriage, without the most fun bits. Or maybe because of that, and the power relationships, a trial adoption is more like it. Some students start graduate school really certain of … Continue reading
Posted in Graduate school, Your lab group
Tagged lab culture, Research, rotation, techniques
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Do you have a lab philosophy?
Recently our lab group spent a bit of time deciding on exactly how we want to interact with one another. What is this whole lab group business all about? What are the rules? What are the guidelines? Do we have … Continue reading
What are your goals for fall?
Sometimes I think I could easily fritter all my time away if I don’t have a clear list of goals. If I don’t remember what I want to figure out, I might just do all the little tasks others throw … Continue reading
Posted in Managing an academic career, Organization of a scientist, Your lab group
Tagged goals, planning, reflection
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What are you paying your work-study students?
This is the time of year when we begin to think about our classes, the fall excitement, and a crop of new students coming through our doors. Many of those will qualify for work study. This is a federal program … Continue reading
Posted in Research, Undergraduates, Your lab group
Tagged fairness, minimum wage, Research, undergraduates, work study
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Whose work is that anyway? Excess lab PI credit
There is going to be a race of social amoebae and other single motile cells today. Our lab has an entry. This is a fun thing to do, one that required some work. I encouraged our group to participate because … Continue reading
Posted in Your lab group
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Undergraduate journal clubs are important
In the summer, the undergraduates in our lab group meet without us. During the academic year they have a lab meeting and journal club dedicated just to them. This is important because it is hard to think critically when you … Continue reading
Posted in Mentoring, The joy of teaching, Undergraduates, Your lab group
Tagged critical reading, learning, undergraduate
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Do you have your own lab training activities?
We always worry about how well we communicate safe and accurate procedures to new students. We had several new undergrads join our lab last spring, so we decided to have a concentrated session of training on a Saturday. Debbie Brock … Continue reading
Sociobiology 