“Being part of a big microscopy core like the NIC has given me the opportunity to learn about all aspects of core facility life, from user training and consultation, to microscope maintenance, to grant writing and management. On the technical side, I’ve learned the theory and practice of a wide variety of advanced microscopy techniques, including FRAP, ratiometric imaging, single-molecule imaging, SIM, and STORM. I’ve tested, reinforced, and deepened my understanding by training users in each of these techniques.
I love teaching, so I spend a lot of my time working on our microscopy workshop program at HMS. I lecture in our workshops, develop new lectures and lab exercises, and coordinate workshop logistics. I recently organized a new point scanning confocal microscopy workshop with new lecture and lab content, and this summer I’m planning to develop a live cell imaging workshop. When I want to learn more about a topic, I develop a lecture about it; there’s always an enthusiastic and appreciative audience for microscopy lectures at HMS. I’m also very much involved in our annual Cold Spring Harbor course, and in the months leading up to the course, I help to write lab exercises, prepare samples, and coordinate equipment.
I’ve also worked on several other projects, including an ongoing project to automate our quarterly microscope inspections and developing methods to measure phototoxicity.”
“During my Ph.D. research, I used light microscopy and image analysis to answer questions about the cell biology of neurons. Learning about microscopy and helping other researchers with that knowledge were my favorite aspects of the Ph.D. experience. My goal is to become a scientist who helps other researchers to do their best work. Learning how to develop and run a microscopy core facility is how I plan to achieve that goal.
The Advanced Microscopy Fellowship program has allowed me to use my research experience to advise HMS researchers in their diverse light microscopy experiments. By assisting researchers with a variety of experimental setups, the breadth and depth of my understanding have expanded beyond what was required of my Ph.D. research. Using theoretical microscopy knowledge to better train, advise, and teach researchers has been a wonderful challenge. I look forward to increasing the accessibility of advanced light microscopy approaches while working to increase the rigor and reproducibility of even the simplest experiments.”