Lab philosophy

This is intended to be a live page, which will evolve as the lab changes. However, some things should remain constant, which is where we begin on this page. 

Inclusivity and support

I intend to build an inclusive laboratory environment, where diverse identities, cultures, experiences and thinking are both welcomed and encouraged.  I am committed to supporting the growth of each person who joins my lab, as we learn from each other. I also recognize that everyone has a life outside of science and that it is important to achieve a healthy balance. I also believe that we should try to communicate our sicence to the public and we should make efforts to make science more accessible to the public through outreach efforts.  I expect lab members to embrace this philosophy and to help build an environment in which everyone can succeed. 

Responsible and reproducible science

Everything we study is built upon the work of countless scientists whose efforts have established a foundation of knowledge. We are so fortunate to be in a position to act on this knowledge and add to it. Knowing this, we must commit to producing work that is reproducible to the best of our ability. This includes carefully planning and documenting experiments. By carefully planning experiments in advance, you can focus on the ‘right’ experiments to do, which saves time and helps to achieve the balance I mentioned above. All raw data, analysis code and any software we generate should be documented, understandable and publicly available, using repositories such as GitHub. We should plan to make all reagents freely available when it is feasible to do so. I will teach lab members to use the tools that I have learned that support these efforts, but I am always open to new suggestions to improve productivity and reproducibility!

Approach to mentoring

Everyone learns differently, has different strengths and different life goals. I am committed to working with lab members to support each person’s unique needs, and develop a mentoring plan that we can agree will be mutually beneficial. This process should start from our first meeting, and be actively updated over time. If I lack expertise to solve a problem, I will work to identify and contact someone who does.  I believe that everyone also benefits from having mentorship from someone with similar, relatable life experiences, so I am committed to helping to identify additional outside mentors to accomplish this.  I fully support and encourage new ideas, new collaborations and intellectual freedom. To this end, everyone is free to pursue their projects when they leave the lab.