Lucy Lai
Rice University
Janelia Lab: Dudman
I used to have a fear of asking questions. But in science there is always something you don’t know, regardless of where you are in your career – that’s what I like about it. My mentors are the first to admit if they don’t know something. The more you ask the more you learn. If people didn’t ask questions, life would be so boring.
Snigdha Srivastava
Washington University in St. Louis
Janelia Lab: Reiser
My interests are so broad right now, which leaves a lot of room for growth. I would tell my younger self to keep pursuing everything I’m interested in. You never know when the information you learned from a different field might be applicable.
Karla Montejo
Florida International University
Janelia Lab: Spruston
Don’t assume that you can only join groups like “women in engineering” or “women in STEM” –you can step outside of that. Also, you don’t necessarily have to label yourself as a beginner. Just jump in wherever you can – attend a seminar or talk, even if you’re not sure you’ll understand all of it. That’s how I found out about the JUS program at Janelia.
Maya Jay
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Janelia Lab: Svoboda
Have a strong support group. In high school, I had a group of other women, especially my science teachers, who taught me how to approach science. They helped me understand why different aspects of my experiments mattered, and how every part of my experiment could come together to create a valid case to support a hypothesis. They encouraged me to think about why every control was necessary, to question every step along the way.
