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 Student
Seminar Series on November 15 with Dr. Rosalind Kim
Please join us on November 15, 2004 at 4:00pm in the Calvin Seminar Room
for the PBD Fall Student Seminar. Our host, Division Director Graham Fleming,
welcomes students as well as Dr. Rosalind Kim, who will talk about "Protein
Production for N.I.H. Protein Structure Initiative." The session
will be followed by a tour of the Kim Lab and a pizza dinner. Come see
firsthand some of the science going on in the division and network with
fellow students and researchers. RSVP by Monday Nov 11 to Eskedar Tadesse
at etadesse@lbl.gov. Questions? Contact Delia Clark at x6331 or Ellen
Ford at x4905.
Have you registered at the Physical Biosciences Student
Website?
If you haven’t done so already, please visit the PBD Student Website
at www.lbl.gov/pbd/students and follow the link to our Student Registration
page. By registering, you’re helping to keep you appraised of valuable
opportunities and services here at Berkeley Lab. The student website is
your one-stop shop for student resources, events and opportunities.
PBD Announces Undergraduate Mentoring Program
Starting this fall, PBD undergraduates will have a unique opportunity
to work with graduate students in a new program designed to help develop
career paths, network with division researchers, and learn about graduate
schools and other opportunities. The PBD Undergraduate Mentoring Program
connects undergrads with PBD researchers who can provide useful guidance
and support. The mentoring relationship is limited only by participants’
flexibility and creativity: Undergrads (protégés) and mentors
can talk via phone, email, or lunch meetings, and for as little as 20
minutes a week. If you’re interested in finding or becoming a mentor,
please contact Delia Clark (x6331, dnclark@lbl.gov).
 PBD
Seminar Series with Kris Niyogi: November 17
Kris Niyogi of the Biological Dynamics Department will be speaking at
the next talk of the PBD Seminar Series on Wednesday, November 17 at 3:00
in the Calvin Lab Seminar Room. Dr. Niyogi’s talk is entitled: “It’s
not easy being green: How plants deal with sunlight.” The Niyogi
Lab is investigating how plants adapt to varying light conditions in the
course of a day. We are grateful for Dr. Niyogi taking the time out of
his research schedule to come speak with us. Students are welcome to attend
what promises to be a very interesting talk.
Decisions about Graduate School
Adapted from the National Academies Press’
Careers in Science and Engineering: A Student Planning Guide to Grad
School and Beyond
As an undergraduate, you might find it hard to get a clear picture of
the graduate environment. This is where an effective faculty adviser,
as someone who has "been there," can provide invaluable help.
Seek out your adviser (or another mentor) and learn what you can as early
as possible. You do not necessarily need a graduate degree to have a career
in science or engineering. For example, engineers with a bachelor's degree
can often move upward quickly in their profession and, with luck and hard
work, can even break into top management. But if your goal is to direct
research or to teach at the college or university level, you will probably
want a PhD. In undergraduate school, you learn what is already known;
in a master's program, you build your knowledge to a higher technical
level; in a doctoral program, you learn to add to the body of scientific
and technical knowledge. At all levels, graduate education is both rigorous
and focused. It is not simply a bigger and more-advanced version of undergraduate
schooling, where you meet a wide range of subjects and acquire general
skills. As a graduate student, you pursue at much greater depth knowledge
that is concentrated in a single field. It requires a love of your subject
and a new depth of commitment.
Student Perspective:
The “Why” of Working in a Lab
by Jessica Chan, former undergraduate student in the
Holbrook Lab
Wearing robotic gloves that ran to his elbows, the man made sweeping
motions in the air with his arms. Behind him, a computer screen projected
a colorful protein, turning and twisting in the same motion as those gloves;
the perfect dance partner. The man conducting the molecular symphony would
unknowingly be a catalyst to my desire to pursue research. To think that
the shape of such a small molecule holds the site, that when occupied
by another minute molecule, could control our bodily functions amazed
me. The simplest drug design would be to mimic or antagonize the effects
that a protein has on a particular biological pathway. The idea was so
simple, so genius. But unlike ideas, the work involved to develop that
idea is never simple. However tedious the task was made to sound, I knew
that I wanted to take part in it.
My interest led me to join the Holbrook Lab at Berkeley Lab. The Holbrook
Lab has two divisions, one dealing with computational work and the other
with protein crystallography. I was put under the supervision of Elizabeth
Holbrook. The lab sought to purify and crystallize the Nudix proteins
found in the bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans. Because the bacterium is
one of the most radiation-resistant organisms on earth, our hope was that
by identifying the structures of its proteins, we would unlock the secrets
to its resistant ability. Dr. Holbrook was a great PI to work under because
she took the time to explain the procedures and experiments that we conducted.
There were various protocols that one had to learn, and I found that it
was easy to just follow the instructions without really knowing why you
were doing them. It was great that I got to learn the “why”
of what I was doing.
As I familiarized myself with protein crystallization, the processes,
repeated countless times, became second nature to me. But however redundant
it seemed, I realize that we were moving forward, slowly but surely. There
would be problems that we encountered. When that happened, there was a
need to reevaluate the experiment and critically think about the problems.
This is what made the research exciting. The uncertainty of the outcomes,
the hopes and fears when anticipating the results of a gel or plate, is
what urges researchers on.
Besides the skills that I learned working in the lab, I also participated
in some of the talks that were given at LBL. The opportunity to hear about
the latest technology and ideas from the top scientists was thrilling
even though at times what I heard was pretty incomprehensible to me. Another
perk in working at the lab was that I was able to make friends with the
other people involved in the lab. It was great to be part of a team, working
towards a common goal. I have missed the Friday meetings where we were
able to get together, eat, and learn.
Browse past student newsletters:
July 2004
April 2004
July 2003
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