Profile

Candidate CV questions (extra)

• Education

  Tulare Western High School, Tulare, California- studied core subjects and focussed on science and maths

  BYU Idaho, Rexburg, Idaho- studied cellular biology, environmental geology and health science

  Highline Community College, Des Moines, Washington- studied chemistry, drawing,  anthropology (human behaviour)  and maths

  Warnborough College online distance learning- studied botany, plant and animal biochemistry, ecology, plant pathology, and marine science

   

• Qualifications

  BSc Environmental Science (Hons) 1st 2016- this, along with the years of work experience I have built up,  has helped to me work on the Norwich Research Park (and more importantly here at the Earlham Institute as a research assistant).

  Introduction to Python for biologists- as it states, this course introduced me to the common coding using Python, which biologists get the most use out of. I learned how to take large sets of data and analyse them. This is helpful in that I could set a program going (which could take hours or days even) and get on with other tasks. I could be looking for certain genes in the genomes of several different samples and by hand this would take ages. With coding you can set it to look for specific gene sequences, compare it to the genomes of interest and file the outcome with one string of code. I’ve also taken away the visual display codes used for presenting data (I showed a couple of box plots above I was able to code for).

  Bioinformatics for Beginners- A course I took during lockdown which was useful in teaching me the functions commonly used in bioinformatics. The above courses including this one have really helped me as a laboratory scientist in that I understand what will happen to the data I generate in the lab, once it is handed over to our bioinformaticians. I can also explain to them (the bioinformatician) what I’ve done to generate that data and why it may look a certain way, in a language they understand. I feel it is very important as a laboratory technician to be well-rounded and to know more than just lab techniques but to push your limits and learn more of what takes place downstream in the process.

  Electron microscopy (TEM and SEM)- I’ve been a user of light microscopy from an early age but this was a whole different game and makes presenting and publishing papers all the more interesting. I was able to get a TEM of rust spores breaking out of a sugar beet leaf. It really was the coolest thing I’ve ever taken an image of! I hope I will be able to use more of what I learned over the course of my future projects.

  Advanced microscopy techniques and Principles of Light Microscopy and camera technology- these courses allowed for me to understand the different mediums used with viewing tissues and materials on light microscopes. How thick the cover plates and slides are, dyes used to pinpoint certain features and how to handle thick plant material was all helpful. I was able to successfully image fungal tissues after learning what I did on this course. There were parts of the microscope I hadn’t even realised were there to manipulate.

   

   

   

   

• Work History

  • Babysitter- from the age of 12-15 I babysat to earn pocket money
  • Snow-shack- A summertime job I had at the age of 14. I made shaved ice and sold it out of a little shed which as sat in the middle of a car-park.
  • Laboratory assistant- 1985-1988 JG Boswell Co. This was an agricultural company and I learned how to prepare soil, water and plant samples for  gas chromatography analysis. I particle sized the farm soils. I also tested for how much extractant was left in safflower and cottonseed oil.
  • TacoBell- 1987-1988. Worked part-time during school to pay for my car expenses.
  • Macheezmo Mouse- June 1988- Sept. 1988  Worked here during the summer after moving up to Seattle, Washington. I cooked chicken breasts and prepared the fresh salsa.
  • Qiagen Genomics- Oct. 2001- March 2003. Production associate II. I carried out mapping of DNA, PCR I and II (pre and post) and helped out in the microbiology and sequencing labs when they needed my help. I extracted DNA from mammalian cells and cultures. It was here I got to assist on a part of the human genome project.
  • Laboratory Assistant- July 2009 – Aug. 2010  Gardline Environmental Ltd. I was in charge of the particle-size analysis of seabed samples brought in for environmental assessments. I also assisted with taxonomic ID of benthic macro and microfauna.
  • Laboratory supervisor- Sept. 2010- June 2018 Gardline Environmental Ltd. I implemented plans to increase productivity in the PSA lab. We now offered PSA to international and national standards (BS1377 and ISO) . These implementations doubled the number of samples to process so now I had to train our field scientists (when not offshore) to carry out the methods to these standards so they could assist on the larger jobs which came in.

• Current Job

  • Research Assistant- Jun 2018-to present, Department of Organisms and Ecosystems in the Neil Hall Lab at Earlham Institute. Designed and established the laboratory space we used. Set in motion SOPs for the institute and wrote up several for our laboratory protocols as well as for field work. DNA and RNA extractions- transcription and annotation. PCR and primer design. Quality control for DNA and RNA using NanoDrop, QuBit, TapeStation and Bioanalysers. Culturing in liquid media and solid media. Media prep and technical skills including use of freeze-drier, electrophoresis, PCR, microscopy. Liaise with collaborators in and outside UK. Supervise and tran students including Nuffield BSc students in industry, MSc and PhD. Participate in public outreach programs. Bioinformatics using python and  including use of BLAST, MEGA and T-BAS

• Employer

  Earlham Institute