dcbio.org

…and long term goals.  This is a subject that I think about a lot.  I’d love to learn more and read your comments about what it means to be a scientist in the terms of dedication and long term goals.  I know the traditional academic pathway develops through a certain educational direction.  HS, BS, pHD, Post Doc, Tenure Track Position, Followed by Tenure.  If you’re lucky!  That’s a tough route to go.  It takes energy and dedication with a goal in mind and no guarantees.  I have a lot of respect for the people who choose to go this route.  I’ve met a few others who took a break before grad school as research assistants, I’ve also met many stopped there and switched into other careers.

My goal is to stay in scientific research as long as possible.  I’m approaching a 10 year career here, and I’d love to think about alternatives to the traditional pathway while building on what I’ve done.  Mixing science and business seem extremely exciting.  Maybe an MBA is the next goal.

What do you do in science?  What’s been your plan?  Have you progressed in a non-traditional scientific career? Please do comment here or drop us an email.

Here are 2 quick snapshots from my laptop’s web cam. I’m excited about the things that will develop from this space. Data! Ideas! There’s a great atmosphere in the lab, and I know who worked at this bench before me, so it’s possible for a bench to have good Karma, this one does.

Check out the desk connected to my bench.  Work has begun with the first entry in a lab notebook, and time reading journals related to the lab’s previous research.

I hear artists discus the impact of their studio environment on their creativity and inspiration, I’m curious to know how many scientists out there actually draw from their lab environment.  How many people grow from the visual, and functional aspects of the lab?  I think it does.  The environment including the lay out of the equipment to it’s impact on the interaction between the other scientists all play a role in the functionality of the lab.

There’s nothing like the feeling of starting up in a new lab. There’s excitement, and the fun of figuring out another lab’s organization. From finding account numbers to searching for pipettes, with each switch from lab to lab, I’ve had a great deal of fun. After working in 3 different labs, starting up a temporary lab at Wood’s Hole, and Managing the Prep lab twice for two microbiology courses, I can say that this is one of the things I like most. The fear of not knowing where the plates are, and then the joy of finding them. The joy of actually getting your media into the autoclave filled with the hope and excitement, the desire for results and things that may come from your simple mixture. It’s about putting in time, crunching data, the love of asking questions.

We’ve been expanding the number of contacts on our map.  If you’d like us to add your lab to the map with in the DC metro area (which includes Maryland, Virginia, and DC)  Then let us know.  We’d really like to see this map develop into a useful tool for the local mid Atlantic region from Richmond, VA to Frederick, MD and slightly beyond.

Check out the map’s progress at the link above or view a thumbnail here:

View dcbio in a larger map
(If you have trouble viewing the map pins, then refresh the page).

We’ve been out of work since 1/1/2010.  It’s tough out there on unpaid leave.  4 interviews for different positions, lots of discussion, and it’s our pleasure to say we’re back!  Same university, similar organisms, in a different lab!  We’ll post later with details.  It’s possible that we may finally pass 10 years at the same university!

Happy new year to the DC area’s researchers.  I look forward to the year to come.  Hours on pubmed and data in the lab.  Ideas, new positions, research, and grants.  Let’s bring in a new year with strong results.  If you have ideas, new publications, or Bio Tech events in the area, then please send them our way.  We’re interested to learn about small notes to large conferences.   Oh for the sake of the gods above, bring the Yeast Meeting here.  Yes.  Yes, we know ASM Candida and Candidiasis meeting will be in Miami, Florida, but there’s nothing like a meeting in your back yard.  Oh, what am I saying, let’s hit the beaches.  March 22 to 26, 2010…

We wish the bio tech world the best possible Holidays!  See you in the new year!  Send us details about your breakthroughs and plans for next year’s DC area research.  We’d love to read about it!

There will be no research today!  Just when I was thinking about the things I could wrap up in the lab. The world has to realize, we’re not Chicago. We’re not New England. We’re not Canada or upstate New York!  Our city is working hard, but it’s going to take them a while to catch up!  Here are a few shots in the area:

Nice snow coverage, around 8 to 10 inches!  Well over 18 inches by the end of the day…

Heres another shot of a brave neighbor digging his cars out!

“Pharmacognosy” derives from two Greek words, “pharmakon”or drug, and “gnosis” or knowledge. Thus, Pharmacognosy (chemistry and biology of natural products) is the study of bioactive natural substances found in terrestrial and marine organisms (plants, animals, or microbes).

–From the University of Mississippi’s web site a.k.a. University of Ole Miss.

I visited their department for a few weeks, and I was knocked out by such a positive, upbeat, and energetic department.  They were excited about the ideas they were working on, and the out come seemed not so much to be a possibility but a fact.   Grad students were willing to work late into the night help others with projects as if it was their own.

How does this effect the world of DC area bio tech?  Beyond my career, it doesn’t.  Though today I was re-reading the data we produced there, and I was curious how many of you were aware of the roots of the word Pharmacognosy.

Evidently there are 1200 bio tech workers in Washingotn, DC as of the census of 2007.  I’m curious to see what the numbers are like for the next census.  Here’s a link to a very breif .pdf about bio tech workers on the bls.gov website.  Yes yes, DC’s dwarfed by Maryland’s 9,790 workers, which is cut down by California’s 23,240.  The cycle of bio tech life.

So I’d like to know where these 1200 DC bio tech workers are.  Many at Georgetown and George Washington Universities, many at hospitals.  Where else?

While we’re thinking about Labor Stats.  Check out the life of a Microbiologist here.  There’s also a nice blurb on Clinical Lab Techs…