I didn’t expect to see my principal investigator throw an axe in my first week in the lab. Among the many new and unfamiliar experiences I had this week–using MATLAB for the first time, observing an EEG/EMG implantation surgery, and learning the intricacies of animal behavioral testing–axe throwing was certainly among the most unexpected.
This summer, I’m working in the Bilbo lab alongside Dr. Trisha Vaidyanathan on a project about the effects of environmental stressors on sleep. This project is based on Dr. Vaidyanathan’s past work, which I’ve been lucky to learn all about over the course of my first week.
I was initially anxious about starting in the lab. I worried that I’d end up making more work for my mentor, that I wouldn’t be able to understand the project, or that I’d make a bad impression on other members of the lab. Okay, but what does axe throwing have to do with any of this? On my third day, as I started to settle into the lab environment, my mentor told me that the lab was going to an axe throwing venue in downtown Durham for a lab bonding event. She encouraged me to come along.
I’ve had some lab experience in the past as a part of a high-school program back at home in Pittsburgh. Because of COVID-19, however, the program was completely virtual the first summer, and I worked with my mentor through zoom.
Because of this, I don’t think I ever truly realized the essential role of community and effective communication in a lab environment. As my mentor and I dive deeper into the project, I notice how the lab members support each other–turning to others who may have more experience when they’re piloting a new experiment and getting feedback from others on manuscripts.
That’s why, when I saw how the lab exchanged light-hearted humor and cheered for each other as we all awkwardly fumbled about with this unfamiliar task, my nervousness was eased.
This summer, I’m expecting to learn effective communication in the scientific community. I think I’ll have to push myself to reach out for help, and I’ll have to improve my ability to express my questions and findings clearly and confidently.
Great! I’m really glad everyone is being supportive and making you feel welcome. The most important thing is to be curious, but if an environment isn’t welcoming, it would be very difficult to feel free to ask questions and learn. No one in the lab is expecting everyone to know everything — its a group effort 🙂