Student Testimonials: 2004-2003
Erin Cline
Grad Student, MCP
James Nelson Lab
Research interest:
Epithelial cell polarity and protein localization
My time at The Tech was really wonderful.
Working with the kids and watching their faces light up when they see DNA right before their eyes or they find out they can load a gel just like a real scientist is very rewarding. Writing for the website was a great experience too. I enjoyed learning how to communicate science to non-scientists and I think it will help me in whatever science career lies ahead for me.
Robin Kimmel
Post-doc, Epithelial Biology
Khavari Lab
Research interest:
Genetic mechanisms of skin cancer development
Working at The Tech is a unique opportunity.
It is great to see kids getting excited about DNA and to give them a feel for what geneticists do. Writing for the website gave me a chance to learn about a broad range of topics in current research. It was challenging and rewarding to write articles intended for nonscientists. There aren’t many chances while doing grad school and a post-doc to get that kind of writing experience.
Flo Pauli
Grad Student, Genetics
Stuart Kim Lab
Research interest:
Tissue-specific gene expression in C. elegans
My experience at The Tech was a lot of fun!
I had a great time interacting with museum visitors and staff. It was a very good opportunity to learn to communicate science to the public by speaking to museum visitors and writing articles for the website . I also had the chance to teach a class about DNA and human traits to 5th-8th grade students. Overall the experience was eye opening and very rewarding. Working at The Tech reinforced my belief that even if we don't take alternate career paths, we have a great responsibility to educate the public about the impact of science, and especially genetics, on their lives.
Joylette Portlock
Grad Student, Genetics
Michele Calos Lab
Research interest: Cardiovascular gene therapy
Working at The Tech was a really great opportunity.
Among other things, it lets you: 1) Develop new opinions and get some experience in a couple of the so-called "alternative" career paths that so many scientists take after grad school, 2) Have a lot of fun talking to people besides your labmates, and 3) Contribute in a very direct way to people's understanding of scientific concepts. Also, it was really neat tocreate a museum program from scratch and get it to a prototyping stage with actual visitors!
Sophie Candille
Grad Student, Genetics
Greg Barsh Lab
Research interest:
Genetics of pigmentation in dogs
It was time well spent.
At The Tech I wrote science articles for The Tech's web site , I presented programs on the floor exhibit, and I started to develop a GFP purification program with another graduate student, Ky Sha. Interacting with the public was always motivating and rewarding. Kids are very interested in doing experiments and their parents often have great questions about genetics. This internship was an opportunity to explore different career options. I have always thought about the possibility of having an alternative career after my PhD i.e. not be a scientist or a professor. At The Tech I did some science writing and teaching. This experience helped me determine whether or not I enjoyed writing and teaching and whether I was any good at it.
Ky Sha
Grad Student, Biology
Johns Hopkins University
Andrew Fire Lab
Research interest: Somatic gene silencing in C. elegans
My volunteer experience at the Genetics Exhibit has been both a fun and educational experience.
It's rewarding demonstrating science to the public and being able to answer their questions. I especially enjoy visitors' faces lighting up, both kids and adults alike, when they have learned something interesting. I've learned interesting facts from the Ask a Geneticist section and new skills from the GFP purification demonstration Sophie Candille and I are trying to set up.
I’m having a great time at The Tech!
The Genetics Exhibit is really well done and draws in tons of interested visitors. I’ve had a real positive experience interacting with people, addressing their questions and concerns about genetics. I think I’ve managed to convince quite a few that it’s not possible to clone extinct dinosaurs and eating recombinant DNA will not make one sick!
Colin Davidson
Post-doc, Genetics
Joseph Lipsick Lab
Research interest:
Evolution and function of the Myb gene family
I benefited from my experience at The Tech .
I enjoyed the challenge of communicating the basic scientific principles of the different demonstrations to museum visitors. The reaction and enthusiasm of the kids was particularly rewarding. Contributing responses to the Ask a Geneticist web page provided valuable lessons in communicating scientific ideas in a simple, succinct, but engaging manner. I’ve tried to incorporate some aspects of this style of writing in subsequent grant and fellowship applications. Overall, my involvement with The Tech was extremely positive.
Dan Ginsburg
Grad Student, Genetics
Michele Calos Lab
Research interest:
Phage integrases for site-specific integration in the human genome
It was a very rewarding experience.
Being involved in many aspects of exhibit development and then actually being on the floor of the completed exhibit gave me a great feeling of accomplishment. The writing I did forThe Tech Museum and the interactions I had with museum visitors led to great improvements in both my written and verbal communication skills. I was also able to help start a program on the misrepresentation of genetics in the media. I'm very excited to see that program up and running now. The whole experience made me think that this is something I might want to do in the future.
Chana Palmer
Grad Student, Genetics
Pat Brown Lab
Research interests:
Bioinformatics (microarray design) and human microbial flora
My experience at The Tech was both fun and educational.
I enjoyed the challenge of communicating science to people of all ages and backgrounds, both in person and in writing. It was a valuable experience for me because it exposed me to a type of science-related career that I knew nothing about, and in doing so helped shape my career plans. I would encourage any graduate student to try it out, for the sake of understanding how your science is perceived and understood, but feel that the experience is especially useful for those interested in exploring "alternative" careers in science.