In this spotlight of Courtney Ries, undergraduate research assistant alumna (graduated May 2024 with a B.S. in biology and minors in computer science and dance), she reflects on her time in the Michaelson Lab and how it prepared her to enter the biotechnology industry.
When and how did you become involved with the Michaelson Lab?
The summer before my sophomore year (2021) I attended a virtual careers in genetics conference through the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics and really enjoyed listening to Jake speak!
Can you describe your past position as an undergraduate research assistant in the Michaelson Lab? What research projects did you assist with?
When Jake asked what I wanted to research, not only was I overwhelmed with all of these cool research topics I could pursue, but I also felt very clueless about research as a whole. I ended up being mentored by Lucas [Casten, graduate student] and helping him with his projects for a while. It was so cool that he could turn a jumble of language data into research leads and hypotheses. He taught me to program and think like a scientist. I’ve told him on many occasions that he’s a very good teacher.
After a year of working at the lab, I was accepted to the Biomedical Scholars Summer Research Program (BSURP). That’s when I was paired with Taylor Thomas [graduate student alumna] as a mentor, and I started working in the wet lab. At the time, the lab was starting our NDVR project. I would extract DNA from saliva samples and prep it for a variety of sequencing techniques.
What skills did you develop as an undergraduate research assistant?
I will have to limit this to my first few thoughts or this could become much too long!
First, there are the hard skills: On the computational side, I learned about programming, statistical analysis, machine learning, and natural language processing. I even got to run my own Genome Wide Association Study which was pretty cool! In the wet lab, I learned a variety of DNA extraction and sequencing prep techniques, and how to operate a state-of-the-art robot.
Then, there are the soft skills. On both sides of my lab work, I learned a lot about research methods and design. I learned to be persistent, especially through failure, which I experienced a lot. Especially in the wet lab, I learned to keep meticulous documentation, organizational systems, and double check everything I do. Finally, I learned a ton about scientific communication, including explaining what a polygenic score is to a general audience at a poster presentation!
Can you describe your current position as a business analyst at Corteva Agriscience?
Corteva has lots of internal websites that facilitate biotechnology research and development processes. Me and my team will get assigned a certain amount of time to work on a website. Every project is different, but for my current project, we are adjusting a website to accommodate for a new kind of genetic alteration and making the interface a bit more user-friendly.
I wear a lot of hats in my role to make all of this possible. My favorite “hat” is getting to be a liaison between my team and the scientists who use our applications. I will ask questions about the current state of the application to get an idea of what works well and what needs to be changed. Once we develop a solution for a particular problem, I will create tasks called “stories” for my development team to complete. That’s where the project management hat comes in. Finally, I lead periodic communications with stakeholders throughout the company. I might have an informal meeting with another team to discuss how their website interacts with ours, or it might be a more formal meeting with important users and department leadership where I prepare charts regarding project goals and our team’s progress.
How did the Michaelson Lab prepare you for your current role?
My time at the lab prepared me for many different aspects of my role!
Having both wet lab and computational experience was a unique opportunity that I was fortunate to have. It’s easy for me to visualize processes like DNA extraction because I’ve done them before. Then, thanks to everyone else in the lab, I gained experience learning about computational research topics and concepts. This helped me build the basic knowledge of how to communicate with programmers and learn new software development concepts at my job.
Speaking of communications, a huge one is asking questions. It’s really the crux of my job, as it is with research. During my time in the lab I was encouraged to ask questions. Everyone always displayed a curiosity for one another’s research. The curiosity that comes with science is important in my role. By asking the right questions, I might uncover an important step we need to take when creating our website, or a better way to structure my team’s work that makes the development process smoother!
What is your favorite memory from your time in the lab?
How dare you make me pick!
In general, I think it’s cool to look back and see my growth over 3 years in the lab. I went from feeling like I knew nothing at all to being able to ask Ethan [Bahl, graduate student alumnus] questions about his thesis and contribute meaningfully to our discourse during lab meetings.
I always loved lab retreat [annual tradition where the lab spends two days together doing fun activities]. If you haven’t worked in the lab, you might expect that we just talk about our specific research topics all day, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. We’ve had DSM-V trivia and also discussed science fiction and poetry. I always felt challenged to consider our work from a new lens. I wasn’t at the lab bench on those days, but that’s when I felt most like a scientist.
Honorable mentions include Muhammad’s [Elsadany, graduate student] homemade dinner (especially the cinnamon cake), playing Jake’s synthesizer, going on impromptu team lunches downtown during the summer, and of course, trying the infamous Dr. Nogg.
What advice would you give to someone interested in joining the lab or research broadly?
If the research at the lab interests you, you should find a way to get involved! If you feel like you don’t have the skills, don’t worry, you will learn. If you can’t decide what you want to research, ask what the lab needs help with and start there–you can always change your focus!
If you’re interested but not sure you want to pursue graduate school or academia, don’t let that hold you back–you will learn invaluable lessons in research for any career path you choose!
And finally, if the whole idea of research makes you feel totally lost, there’s an amazing group of people at the Michaelson Lab who will help you find your way!