Path Analysis to a Science Career

How did I get here? Isn't that an interesting question for anyone? One day follows on the next, you follow one path to another, reaching for one opportunity which leads to another and another. One day you look up and realize that you couldn't have planned where you are even if you'd tried. But somehow, here you are now. My path led me to a career in scientific research. Perhaps thinking about my story could be useful when considering how to encourage young people to pursue careers in science.

When I was a kid and asked to draw pictures of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I composed something different every time. One attempt was of a ballerina, which is hilarious to me now since I didn't last more than a few uncoordinated months in kiddy ballet. I often thought about being a writer, but that was a lame thing to draw. I just was supposed to draw myself with a pen in my hand? Snooze. I did draw a scientist once in elementary school, not really because I had a premonition but because it was just fun to draw. Lab coat, beaker of green liquid in one hand with bubbles dangerously pouring out of it, and lots of weird bubbling things in the background. You know, the sort of thing that would really freak out the safety committee if it really happened in real life. As a kid I was too young to see myself in a career as abstract as "scientist". But during that time I did learn to be curious and creative and think critically, read a lot, and to enjoy and value nature thanks to camping and biking. All of these things propelled me along down the path, though I didn't know it then, and it still could have taken me anywhere.

In high school the subjects I was good at and enjoyed pretty much framed any picture I had of myself in the future. I must thank a half dozen teachers who clearly went above and beyond for their students. But I was good at school, a certifiable nerd, so that meant a lot of enticing things to choose from. So many, in fact, that it left me sort of paralyzed. In the end I choose a major as broad as I could because I wanted to keep my options open: Environmental Science. The way I saw it, it encompassed all of the areas of science I enjoyed, had a warm and fuzzy purpose to it, and it left me open to pursue any possible direction -- policy, writing, park ranger, restoration, teacher, etc.

The key thing that really tipped me into research was a chance introduction to a professor in college who offered me an opportunity to work in his soil lab. I had never seriously considered research before, but it sounded like fun to stay on campus over the summer and learn something new. There all of my misconceptions about how research is done were broken. You work with a team; it turns out the image of the lone scientist locked by herself in a lab is a myth. The discoveries come more slowly than you imagine, too, requiring lots of planning and methodical, repetitive work that rewards diligence. Impatient people make poor scientists. And very importantly, I met scientists who had lives outside the lab. Another stereotype destroyed -- scientists weren't no-life super geeks. Some are, but many successful ones aren't. It turns out one stereotype is true: the lab is an exciting place where discoveries are made. Best of all, in the end you put your findings into a "story", connecting your work to the bigger picture. I loved the collaboration, the enthusiasm of other scientists, the hands on nature of work, the idea that what we found out could help the world in a small or big way.

After that turning point, the rest is easy to understand ... internships in other labs, graduate school, and now a 6 year long stint as a lab manager that is still going and still fun. But as I've pursued this direction, it has come to my attention that I've neglected another part of myself, something I am now trying to correct. That's the part of me that has always enjoyed connecting to my community. This blog is my story.