Throughout the past 7 weeks, we have had the honor to hear from various speakers across campus that are doing amazing things in different fields, whether it’s in a lab setting or through the academic world. With each lecture, insightful knowledge was embedded as well as great & honest advice as well as best wishes that I will be forever grateful to have been a part of the conversation. From Dr.Lefkowitz’s stimulating talk on G-protein receptors to Dr.Lawrence’s interesting talk on how our diet can impact the microbiome’s composition/process, each lecture left me with inspiration and curiosity for the future. One talk in specific that stood out to me was Dr.Bernhardt’s talk on the remarkable work she does both in the lab and in her academic position at Duke. She explores the environmental impact that Humans and other factors such as climate have on it.
I like the way Dr.Bernhardt sets up her presentation. She began by emphasizing that a scientist isn’t necessarily a person that works only in a lab setting, but they range in different forms and settings. It’s often a misconception people spread, but can be changed through communication. Dr.Bernhardt talks about how her passion for fieldwork began when she was a child constantly exploring the outdoors and has now allowed her to make an impact within the world of science and her surrounding home environment, from working with ghost forests to digging deep into how acid rain affects the East Coast. Dr.Bernhardt has been a part of an ongoing project, which she mentioned consisted of collecting acid rain in the Hubbard Brook Forest for analysis. This project was something that previous people had been working on for many years before she came onto the lab. Those people are collaborators to the project and a part of her team. One of the most meaningful words of advice that Dr.Bernhardt helped to concrete in my mind is the power of having a good and collaborative team to work alongside as well as helpful mentors. Even throughout the images, she displayed in her slides, you could see that often teamwork was an essential part of her projects and research expeditions. I greatly appreciate that Dr.Bernhardt didn’t sugarcoat her struggling experience throughout her career, one which caused her to leave a lab at Duke. But that one bad experience didn’t put a fork in her career road and the end, she came back to Duke and has been here, strengthening our campus even more. She talks about the struggles that come with being a faculty member at Duke and juggling that with her lab. Another point that Dr.Bernhardt made, which is a mindset that Dr.Grunwald constantly promotes, is that research is useless unless the person communicates it with others. Synthesis research is one component that Dr.Bernhardt mentioned she utilizes, which helps to reactivate the data for easier and continuous access for the public and other scientists.
Toward the end of her presentation, Dr.Bernhardt gave encouraging and genuine advice that I will carry with me as I continue on this journey, even after BSURF. Overall, her talk was truly inspiring to witness and I can’t thank you enough, Dr.Bernhardt, for bringing some confidence/ reassurance as well as lots of curiosity in me. Science isn’t always a clean setting but should be comprised of a good team to work alongside, which the BSURF program, I have gotten the experience of what it’s like. Thank you to the entire BSURF team, especially Dr.Grunwald and Dr.Harrel, for allowing us the chance to hear and connect with these wonderful scientists who, despite having gone through different paths in their journey, share some similarities and have lots of wisdom to pass down to us. I can’t wait for what lies ahead and will make the most of all the knowledge I’ve been given.
