What are your primary job responsibilities?

Teaching, research, service to the college and profession

What is a typical work day-in-your-life like?

I usually spend the morning teaching either a General Chemistry or Biochemistry lecture course, and then the rest of my day is either in the research lab with my undergraduate trainees, grading or preparing for class, or writing papers and grant proposals.

How did you find your first job?

I found my postdoctoral research position through direct contact with my PhD advisor. When applying for Assistant Professor positions, I applied nationally and relied on the job boards at C&EN, Science, and an online Excel sheet hosted by "Chemjobber."

What level of education (Bachelor's, Masters, PhD, etc.) is required to do your job? 

PhD

What is your work schedule like? Do you ever work weekends or nights?

I have a very flexible work schedule, and some semesters are busier than others. My current semester is more relaxed in my pacing, but we will see how it goes as we get closer to funding deadlines in April! I will occasionally do some grading or prepare for classes on nights or over the weekend. If I am trying something new in a class or teaching a class I have not done before, I will more often be working weekends and nights.

Do you travel for work? If so, in what capacity, and how often?

I make an annual trip to a national meeting, either to the Spring American Chemical Society meeting or to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

What is your work environment like? Do you work mostly with a team or mostly independently? Do you stand, sit, or move most of the day?

My schedule changes each day depending on what classes I am teaching and when my undergraduate students can come into the research lab. For new students, I often work alongside them to train them until they are competent at a task and can perform it by themselves. In my teaching and writing, that is where I am working independently, and only while writing or prepping/grading for class do I ever really sit down.

What do you like most about your job?

I love the flexibility of the hours and schedule. In the research lab, I can direct students to work in whatever direction I am interested in while also working on projects that develop my teaching style. I can take advantage of the inherent breaks in the academic schedule, although I am often still working when classes are not in session.

What are some tools or skills that you can't live without? These can be technologies, soft skills, hardware, or anything else you can think of.

Most of my online skills require excellent proficiency in many programs in the Microsoft Office Suite. Word is obviously necessary for writing papers or grant proposals. I prepare my lectures in PowerPoint, including those for invited research talks. I also direct students to make basic figures through PowerPoint. I do a lot of math or regular calculations using Excel. I also employ a "standards based grading" style, which when determining grades requires I have several functions embedded in my Excel gradebook. I use OneNote as our electronic notebook. My specific research project requires some understanding of other programs (PyMOL, Mathematica, Cytoscape) along with some knowledge of coding.

A lot of my job requires communication, so those are the most important soft skills. I need to be able to explain concepts in class and techniques in lab. I often have to sell our research projects to journals or grant reviewers, and then give oral presentations. Having strong writing and oral communication skills is a must to be successful. 

What skills, traits, talents do you have that you think make you a good fit for your job?

One important skill is patience. Students need time to digest and understand the material, and they often need a few examples or to perform a task a few times before they can replicate it. That is important for research expectations, as I usually develop their skills that apply to my larger goals, so the pace is much slower than I could accomplish. However, they are more productive as a group than I could be alone! Another important trait is to have a sharp memory, as this helps with learning everyone's names in my classes and the many other tasks I have to juggle.

What's your best productivity trick?

Everyone needs a to-do list. It can be fancy, it can be on a post-it. My current to-do list is on my "Notes" app, but in busier times, I use an Excel document that color codes things depending on the length of time I still have to accomplish them.

Do you have any habits that are essential to your professional success that you wish you started earlier?

I get updates to new issues in some journals, and I always at least skim the articles that interest me. This has given me some ideas on the direction to take my research!

Another essential habit is built through time management, committing to a healthy work-life balance, and learning what tasks I can and should take on and which are those to decline. Those three need to go hand-in-hand.

What's the best career advice you've ever received? What career advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?

As a graduate student, I eventually recognized that my happiness was directly related to my success in my research project. There is more to you than that!

I also encourage students to be open to possibilities and put themselves in situations to explore. You will not know what you are interested in unless you give yourself a chance to have those experiences.

How do you build community in your career field? Are you part of any professional organizations?

It is important to be social and build rapport with those working around you, whether or not your projects align, as you don't know when they will. I am a member of both ACS and ASBMB and have found connections with other instructors more focused on biochemistry teaching through groups such as Biomolecular Visualization (BioMolViz), Malate Dehydrogenase CURE Community (MCC), and the Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Laboratory (BASIL) community.

Do you have a favorite memory from your time at the University of Minnesota?

I was in the honors program and lived on the same dorm floor as the students in my classes. It was a great way to build community, and I met some lifelong friends on the 4th floor of Middlebrook Hall.