埃斯特尔·赫拉巴克是分子学系的副教授, 细胞, 生物医学科学. 以下是我们与Dr. Hrabak about her own research and her mentoring experiences with undergraduate students.
调查: 你的研究重点是什么? Did your undergraduate studies or an important mentor influence your research trajectory? 你最感兴趣的是什么?
我是一名植物生物学家，研究植物 拟南芥 还有鼠耳芥，这是第一种基因组测序的植物. I have always been interested in learning about the ways that cells transmit information and regulate their intra细胞 communications. 多年来, I have studied several enzymes that are involved in modulating cell signaling processes: protein kinases (enzymes that add phosphate groups to proteins), 蛋白磷酸酶(逆转激酶作用的酶), 和蛋白质s -酰基转移酶(将脂肪酸添加到蛋白质中的酶).
Several mentors influenced my development as a scientist, but I’ll only mention two of them here. 在密歇根州立大学(MSU)读本科时, 我和爱德华·坎蒂诺教授在真菌学实验室工作了将近四年. 尽管我几乎没有任何研究经验，他还是给了我一个机会. 我是他实验室里唯一的本科生, 这一开始有点吓人, 但实验室里的其他人做得很好，教会了我需要知道的一切, 包括基本的实验设计, 分析, 当然还有技术本身. 毕业后, 我在密歇根州立大学微生物系做了七年的研究技术员, 主要是在博士的实验室. 弗兰克Dazzo. 作为一名技术人员，我的工作基本上是进行博士论文中描述的实验. Dazzo’s grant proposals but, if I had extra time, I could try out some of my own ideas. One of those side projects turned into a first author paper, which was very exciting for me. Dr. Dazzo also paid for me to attend research conferences (both in the US and abroad) to present our work. 他对我表现出的信心鼓励我考虑完成博士学位.D. 有一天我会拥有自己的实验室.
调查: 师徒关系的目的是什么? 学生和你能从中得到什么?
One of my goals in mentoring undergraduates is to help them get to the point where they know enough about our system that we can discuss the science and exchange ideas and get away from a standard student/teacher relationship. I hope that the students become excited about the science and how their own research fits into the bigger picture. We both gain something important from our interactions; the student becomes more confident in their abilities as a researcher and I often get new ideas from questions they ask or from an unexpected experimental result.
Another goal of mine is to be a source of support for students as they consider their next steps after college and to be available to serve as a reference for their applications. Many intangible skills are gained by conducting research that are beneficial even if the student is not planning on a research career, so part of my role is to help them see how their lab experience can be applied to other situations. 我实验室的本科生都去了专业学校(医学院), 兽医, 医师助理), 研究生院, 或者直接进入劳动力市场, and it is fulfilling for me to help them take that next step no matter what they choose to do after graduation.
调查: 请描述一个或两个难忘的师徒经历.
This is a tough question to answer as I have mentored more than 80 undergraduates during my time at UNH and it is impossible to choose just one or two students to talk about. One aspect of mentoring that I enjoy is helping students turn their results into an oral or poster presentation for the UNH 本科研究 Conference or another conference. The challenge is to figure out how to effectively communicate their results and that often requires taking a step back and thinking about their research in a broader context. Communicating results is a critical part of the research process; it is important to learn to create understandable figures or tables for a presentation and to be able to explain your results in both layman’s terms and scientific terms. 我喜欢引导学生完成这个过程, 以及在设计上的合作, 布局, 和配色方案，创造一个有吸引力的最终产品. I am always so proud when I watch my mentees present their poster or talk as I reflect on how much they have accomplished in a relatively short time.
调查: 请描述你在指导本科生时遇到的困难或问题.
在极少数情况下，学生发现湿实验室研究并不适合他们. 如果我注意到学生似乎没有以前那么投入, 我要和你谈谈，看看是否有问题. 有时候这是个人问题. 有时是时间管理或承担太多的承诺. 有时他们发现研究本身比他们预期的更具挑战性. Sometimes a student discovers that they are more interested in a different type of research. 对学生来说，这往往是一个令人不安的时刻, 他们可能不愿意和我谈论他们的感受, 担心我会对他们感到沮丧或失望. 有一小部分学生干脆不理我了, which is not the best solution because now they’ve burned a bridge that might come in handy in the future. 对于大多数学生来说, 我们讨论了形势，友好地分手了, which often enables me to continue to mentor them in other ways if that is helpful to them.
调查: What advice or tips would you give a faculty member new to undergraduate mentoring and/or for undergraduates seeking a mentor?
For faculty new to mentoring, don’t choose undergraduates based solely on their grades. I have had luck selecting students who have already demonstrated that they can maintain their grades while being involved in one or two extracurricular activities (e.g.(本科助教或学生组织官员). Next, give yourself time to find the mentoring style that works well with your personality. Finally, realize that mentoring is time-consuming but, for me, the rewards are absolutely worth it.
For undergraduates seeking a mentor, DON’T be worried if you don’t have previous lab experience. Most faculty don’t expect students to have previous training and often prefer a “blank slate” so that they can teach you to do things in the way that they prefer in their lab. DO learn a little about the faculty member’s research from their website before you reach out in person or by 电子邮件. 如果你得到了一个研究职位的面试机会, DO ask questions about the research and DON’T be afraid to say that you don’t understand something or would like information repeated; this is a desirable quality in a lab worker. 如果你觉得研究不适合你(这种情况时有发生)或者想换实验室, DON’T ghost your mentor; instead, 和他们谈谈你兴趣的变化.
调查: 请随时添加任何其他你想与分享 调查的观众.
当我在找教员职位的时候, I wanted a job at a university that valued undergraduate research so that I could pay forward the wonderful experiences that I had early in my career. UNH拥有强大的基础设施(哈默尔本科生研究中心), 本科研究 Conferences) to support students and faculty who want to do research together. 事实证明，UNH非常适合我!
