Melissa Walker
Articles by Melissa Walker:
7 Tips to Keeping Your Undergraduate Student Volunteers Interested in the Lab
Although we do our best to keep undergraduate students involved in experiments, they are often just in it for a letter of recommendation. Here are some ways to help them enjoy their lab experience and keep them invested in the projects. 1. Maintain Mutual Respect: The relationship between primary investigators (PI) and undergrads differs slightly…
Turn a Smartphone into a Digital Microscope for Only 3 Cents
Have you ever wondered how you could possibly build a digital microscope for a much smaller cost than buying one? Well, the cost of building a microscope is more like $20, but compared to the average cost of scientific microscopes, it might as well be 3 cents! You probably already have most of the tools…
Early Career Stage Funding – Advice for Graduate Students and Post-Docs
Are you stressing about applying for grant funding early on in your career? Are you worrying about lack of preliminary data or lack of experience in your current field? Here are some tips that can help. Why Apply at an Early Stage of Your Career? All of your experiences build upon each other to strengthen…
Need a Few More Hours in the Day? Here Are Some Timesaving Tips
Are you constantly looking for ways to squeeze more lab hours out of the day? Here are some timesaving tips that can help. Figure out Where Your Time Goes Not sure where you are losing those valuable hours? Use a website like Toggl to help you keep track of your time. This will make it…
Advocacy for Scientists – Why and How
Advocating for the research that scientists perform is important. Your advocacy helps politicians and the general public understand why funding is needed. In fact, many funding agencies require a disease to be associated with the research, because citizens and politicians do not typically care to fund projects unless they foresee a cure or treatment. Scientific advocacy…