
 
Melissa discusses her personal challenges with impostor syndrome and finding balance in her life. Melissa realized that graduate school is her life… meaning there are no set hours, and it can be easy to neglect your personal life. She says that you have to make the time to enjoy your friends and family. And that work life balance will lead to being more successful in your science.
Dr. Melissa Wilson Sayres is an Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences and The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. Her main research interests are in sex chromosome evolution, sex-biased processes, population genetics, and comparative genomics. Learn more about her research interests or read her blog.


Biggest Struggle

Impostor syndrome.

Worst Moment

Deleting many weeks worth of completed analysis.

Best Moment

Realizing that graduate school is her life... meaning that you are never finished but you need to be able to take time to enjoy other things.

Mindful Minutes Segment

Habit: Promptly answering emails.
Book:  At the Helm: Leading Your Laboratory by Kathy Barker.
Productivity Tool: Having a child (Not recommended as a means of getting more done) .
Best Advice: Not to take criticism personally.
Hobbies: Hiking with her family, talking with people, and having different science outlets
Alternative PhD study: Astronomy

Contact

Twitter
Email: melissa.wilsonsayres@asu.edu

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

 

002: Work life balance is key to success according to Melissa Wilson Sayres

Rock Your Research is a podcast created for you, the graduate student. If you are looking for inspiration, community, and advice on your PhD journey, then we have you covered. Each episode brings you an amazing academic or nonacademic, who shares their graduate school story. They talk about their biggest struggles and worst and best moments as graduate students. They also talk about their current career and the path they took to get there. The MINDFUL MINUTES ends the show with awesome resources that they use to stay productive and motivated. So join us on this journey and prepare to rock your research!

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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.

Biggest Struggle

She struggled with having confidence in herself.

Worst Moment

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

Best Moment

Her defense because it is when everything came together.

Mindful Minutes Segment

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

Contact Information and Resources

Email: dakob@usgs.gov
Twitter

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


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

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

Biggest Struggle

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

Worst Moment

She failed her initial dissertation proposal defense.

Best Moment

Her defense.

Mindful Minutes Segment

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

Contact Information and Resources

Email: lwasser@neoninc.org
rOpenSci
Twitter
Neon Data skills workshops
Data Carpentry

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


025: Leah overcame failing her first oral proposal defense to find work she loves at NEON

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.

Biggest Struggle

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

Worst Moment

She failed her first round of written exams.

Best Moment

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

Mindful Minutes Segment

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

Contact Information and Resources

Email: volcanojw@gmail.com
Twitter

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


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

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.

Biggest Struggle

Managing work life balance and stress/depression.

Worst Moment

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

Best Moment

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

Mindful Minutes Segment

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.

Contact Information and Resources

Email: vcallier@gmail.com
Twitter
Website
NCI Cancer Currents Blog

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


023: 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.

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.

Biggest Struggle

Perfectionism, always needing to do more.

Worst Moment

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

Best Moment

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

Mindful Minutes Segment

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.

Contact Information and Resources

Email: jrubinstein@usgs.gov
UCLA Food Science Blog

Support Rock Your Research!

Subscribe to Rock Your Research!
    
Intro and Outro Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music - Happy Rock


002: Work life balance is key to success according to Melissa Wilson Sayres

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