Rock Your Research with Chris Jones

Denise struggled with self confidence but landed her perfect job as a researcher at the US Geological Survey.

Denise is a geomicrobiologist at the USGS! Her research focuses on how microorganisms impact their environment and biogeochemical cycles and how the environment impacts microorganisms. To learn more about Denise you can visit her USGS profile page.

• She struggled with having confidence in herself.

• When she was in the process of switching between labs she felt like she was going to be done with science.

• Her defense because it is when everything came together.

• Habit: Being really organized and thinking creatively
• Book: (1) Aquatic Geomicrobiology (2) Brock Biology of Microorganisms
• Productivity Tool: Google Calendar
• Best Advice: Always think about all the scales at which your process interacts and don't put on blinders and just focus on the scale you are looking at for your study
• Hobbies: Sew, knit, cooking, exercise, and gardening
• Alternative PhD study: Art

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Leah is the supervising scientist of education and public engagement at NEON. Her research involves remote sensing and data informatics. To learn more about Leah take a look at her profile on the neon website

• She struggled with time management and work life balance because she worked full time during graduate school.

• She failed her initial dissertation proposal defense.

• Her defense.

• Habit: Scheduling and time management
• Book: Blogs specifically the rOpenSci blog
• Productivity Tool: Evernote and Wunderlist
• Best Advice: Get out of your bubble and network!
• Hobbies: Climbing, hiking, and anything outdoors
• Alternative PhD study: Data Science

• Email: [email protected]
• rOpenSci
• Twitter
• Neon Data skills workshops
• Data Carpentry

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Jennifer overcame her nervous voice during presentation to land an amazing job co-managing multiple programs at the National Science Foundation.

Jennifer is the co-manager of the National Science Foundation's Petrology and Geochemistry Program and she co-manages the GeoPRISMS Program.

• She has a wobbly uncertain voice when she gives a presentation.

• She failed her first round of written exams.

• Having a friend using a separate method actually end up producing a map that ground-truthed her results and vice versa.

• Habit: Taking good notes!
• Book: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
• Productivity Tool: To do lists
• Best Advice: There is life after grad school and it is different and wonderful.
• Hobbies: Biking, baking, and photography.
• Alternative PhD study: Marine Biologist

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Vivian overcame her struggles with work life balance to choose a career that brought her closer to her family and the lifestyle she wanted to live while still pursuing her passion for science.

Vivian is a freelance writer and contractor for the National Cancer Institute's Office of Communications. She is part of a team in charge of maintaining, writing, and editing the NCI Cancer Currents Blog. To learn more about Vivian check out her website.

• Managing work life balance and stress/depression.

• Having her adviser be disappointed in her candidacy exam even though she passed.

• Getting a much needed piece of equipment from her adviser shortly after she realized it would make her experiment faster and easier.

• Habit: Keeping detailed notes on her experiments and what she was thinking every morning for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Book: Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis by Joan Bolker
• Productivity Tool: Gmail and Google Calendar
• Best Advice: Enjoy the freedom that comes from being a grad student!
• Hobbies: Running, swimming, riding horses, and spending time outside.
• Alternative PhD study: Statistics because you can use it to answer many research questions.

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter
• Website
• NCI Cancer Currents Blog

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Justin struggles with perfectionism but doesn't let that stop him from doing work he loves and that matters. He made connections that helped him land the position he wanted in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Justin is a research geophysicist and deputy chief of the USGS Induced Seismicity Project. His current research is focused on human induced earth quakes. To learn more about Justin and his work at the USGS check out his webpage.

• Perfectionism, always needing to do more.

• Left his poster at airport security on the way to his first conference.

• Getting asked for advice by some of the top scientists in his field.

• Habit: Putting in time before a talk to practice and prep it.
• Book: Two articles: Scrutiny of the Abstract and Scrutiny of the Introduction.
• Productivity Tool: To do lists and a reference manager (Mendeley)
• Best Advice: Stop talking about and just write it.
• Hobbies: Being outdoors, biking, running, skiing, triathlons, and cooking.
• Alternative PhD study: Food Science.

• Email: [email protected]
• UCLA Food Science Blog

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Ed realized that his research didn't lend itself to large grants that are required to be hired at an R1 university. He used this to his advantage to learn what it took to become a consultant for higher education.

Ed is a senior director with the Education Advisory Board and serves as their leading expert in student success and retention. To learn more about ED and the Education Advisory Board check out their website.

• Comparing himself to peers that went into careers after undergrad and watching their lives move forward.

• He didn't really have a worst moment.

• Finishing and realizing that he was one of the experts on his small topic area of specialization.

• Habit: A really high motor meaning he put 100% effort into a task.
• Book: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte
• Productivity Tool: Mobile Email
• Best Advice: Received too much good advice to pick one thing!
• Hobbies: Athletics, rugby, dabbling in the stock market, going to museums, and reading fiction.
• Alternative PhD study: Economics

• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Emily overcame doubts about her ability to be a scientist to ultimately be an amazing science communicator using her skills and passion to the fullest. Listen to her talk about her grad school experience and life as a freelance science communicator and educator.

Dr. Emily Grossman is a science communicator and teacher. She works with students and organizations to get and keep students interested in science, especially girls. This passion stems from her personal experiences and stories. You can find many examples of her work and learn much more about Emily at her website.

• Having to deal with the self-doubt that came with being one of the only women in the physics degree at her university.

• Realizing that she didn't love the research side of science but loved explaining science to others.

• Realizing that she had a great love and passion for explaining science and was really great at it.

• Habit: Looking after her body, soul, and spirit.
• Book: (1) The Forty Rules of Love: A novel of Rumi by Elif Shafak (2) anything by Ian McEwan.
• Productivity Tool: Taking time to be in nature and waiting until she is ready to really work on the task before starting it.
• Best Advice: Whatever thy hand findith to do, do it with thy might.
• Hobbies: Dancing, yoga, meditation, being in nature, traveling, and listening to live music.
• Alternative PhD study: She would love to study psychology .

• Twitter
• Website

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Juan struggled with being the only African American PhD student but used this to build a network and expand his way of thinking by interacting with people from many other backgrounds. He credits this with improving the way that he thinks and works.

Juan is the Andrew Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor and Chair of the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Department at the University of Florida where he leads the Human-Experience Research Lab.

• Isolation, he was the only African American PhD student in computer science in the department and in the country at the time.

• His adviser left the university and he ended up switching to a different university.

• Finishing but also getting the opportunity to go to a new school and work on a new project after his adviser left the university.

• Habit: Curiosity and the drive to find answers.
• Book: Read a CV of someone that you want to have a similar job to.
• Productivity Tool: Google Calendar, group meeting account, email, and other technology.
• Best Advice: Don't give up, just keep going!
• Hobbies: Exercise, watch movies and hangout with the family, and fish
• Alternative PhD study: He

• Twitter
• Website

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

David overcame a sub-par performance during his candidacy exam to go on to not only overcome the weakness seen during the exam but to land an amazing assistant research professor position.

David is an Assistant Research Professor at Auburn University. His research focuses on how humans affect wildlife populations and habitats. He is passionate about educating the public about wildlife ecology and conservation. To learn even more about David and his research visit the about page of his blog.

• Realizing that he had a lot to prove as a graduate student to show that he was making progress towards a project.

• Having his committee not completely pleased with his candidacy exam.

• Having everything come together during his dissertation defense and having an enjoyable conversation with his committee.

• Habit: Being interested and passionate about what he is doing.
• Book: (1) Jaguar: One Man's Struggle to Establish the World's First Jaguar Preserve by Alan Rabinowitz (2) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• Productivity Tool: To do lists and a calendar
• Best Advice: You should be comfortable going outside of your comfort zone.
• Hobbies: Being outside, camping, hanging out with friends, and working out.
• Alternative PhD study: He wouldn't have been a scientist at all. Possibly a rock god or a first mate on a fishing boat.

• Twitter
• Blog

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock

Jia is an assistant professor in the Ecology department and Montana State University. Her research focuses on plant ecophysiology. To learn more about her and her research check out her lab website, which is amazing and well worth checking out both in terms of interesting research and visually appealing design. Listen to her graduate school story that led her to a tenure track professor position.

• Knowing what is enough to finish. You want a study that tells a great story but doesn't take forever.

• Installing her field equipment (sap flow sensors) backwards which meant she lost almost an entire seasons of data plus the winter that she had spent making them.

• Receiving the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG)

• Habit: Joined a writing group that forced her to write every week.
• Book: The Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology by Terry Chapin.
• Productivity Tool: To do lists: long-term, weekly, and daily.
• Best Advice: You need to be confident in yourself.
• Hobbies: Skiing and spending time with her kids.
• Alternative PhD study: Soil science.

• Twitter
• Email: [email protected]
• Lab Website

Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock