Week 2

I think a large part of building professional relationships with colleagues for the first few weeks will entail going with my professor to meetings he has when I can, introducing myself, and listening in on what goes on. Over this past week I met a professor who teaches and does research over at Winston Salem State University. Taking advantage of opportunities like this will help me build relationships that I can follow up on.

On the first day, there was a meeting with the Neuroscience labs in the department. For now, my day to day responsibilities are still dependent upon the experiments we want to include in the upcoming paper on TRPA1 receptors in earthworms. What I’ve been doing this past week is preparing for the two most likely experiments, DASPEI staining and immunohistochemistry by getting training for the confocal microscope (to view the DASPEI dye) and reading up on the procedures for the immunohistochemistry. I have also been getting training for the earthworm dissection component from students who have worked previously in the lab.

By next week, I’d like to feel comfortable with the earthworm dissection up to the mounting of the sample onto a slide so that I can also practice using the microscope!

The highlight from this past week was being able to attend a meeting with one of the master’s students and some other professors in the area. I got a greater understanding of what it means to be a professor and handle research and teaching and it was helpful because becoming a professor is a position that I’m considering for the future.