Lab Philosophy

There are a couple general principles that I hope will shape the way the lab functions.

Diversity is Important

Your individual lived experience gives you a unique perspective. The lab should enable you (as your authentic self) to apply and share this insight through the exploration of the natural world. As part of this, the lab has a zero tolerance policy on harassment and bigotry. I do not expect lab members to be “experts” in the theory and application of equitable and inclusive practices when starting in the lab (we’re all learning here), but I do expect you to be a good community member - be respectful, open-minded, and supportive of your lab mates.

Open Science

There is an urgent need for a data-driven understanding of the consequences of anthropogenic change. At the same time, science is in the midst of a reproducibility crisis. Our lab operates under the principles of open science - a movement that aims to make all aspects of the research process available (and more importantly, accessible). While the free availability of publications is an important part of open science, the philosophy extends deeper than that, affecting every aspect of how we do research in our lab. Four of the major manifestations in our lab are:

  1. Sharing preprints and aiming for open access publications whenever possible
  2. Ensuring open protocols and methodologies are available
  3. Making data and code freely and publicly available
  4. Ensuring analyses are reproducible using project folders, with careful documentation and annotation of code

Keep the ultimate goal (the accessibility of what you’re doing) in mind as you get started in lab. Because this is such a key element of the work we do in this lab, we have a zero tolerance policy for data manipulation, fabrication, or forgery.

Strong Foundations

One of my primary goals as PI is to ensure that your time in the lab is just one step on your career path. As such, we will aim to design a research and training program that will advance the work the lab is doing while also equipping you with a strong foundation for your career. Note that this will require thought and reflection on your end - you’ll need to be able to communicate these goals (and update us when these goals change) in order to benefit from this approach.

A second aspect of this principle is that we aim to make sure projects have a strong scientific foundation. In practice, this means they need to be rooted in the literature and/or personal observations and have a strong, testable hypothesis. I believe these are best when they come from a personal connection with the subject matter. Finding topics that are interesting and exciting to you personally is an important part of your training - I encourage you to immerse yourself in the lab’s work, read broadly, and spend time exploring the study systems available to you (go out and take some samples, spend some time with the cultures in the lab, etc.). Working from a strong foundation means that your work is more likely to “pay off” - whether you support or reject the null hypothesis, you’ll be showing something interesting!