What's Beyond Our Eyes

 https://anchor.fm/sciencesucks/episodes/3--How-to-Make-Science-More-Inclusive-w-Ana-Sofia-Barrows-e31t10/a-a9f8qi Found this podcast recently and have really enjoyed the interview of Ana Sofia Barrows for insight into diversity and inclusion in science.

 

 This past month I presented and defended my research proposal to officially move onto becoming a Ph.D. Candidate! This is the second milestone doctoral students must achieve (first being passing an Oral Qualifying Exam over core curriculum) to be able to call themselves a candidate. The designation of candidacy indicates that a student has mastery of their subject of interest and designed a project that they are now focusing on and is assumed to only spend time in lab to accomplish what was proposed or attending conferences to present data and look for a postdoc position.  I am beyond relieved and grateful to have made it to this point and am really looking forward to just dedicating my time to the lab!

Stankowska Lab (google.com) @Stankowskalab 

  So, I have been looking into different icebreakers and team building activities and personality exams to do with the incoming students this fall and found the popular High5 test. While it may be too long for something like orientation, it sure was cool to learn more about myself!  If interested in taking the test, here's the link: https://high5test.com If interested in comparing to my results, this is the link you need: https://high5test.com/test/result-your-friend/Mzk0OTQw If you just want to read and not click on any links, then look below! 1.   Analyst   - "Y our objective is to   analyze in order to find root causes . It's not that you don't like ideas, theories, concepts, but you want to see them proven. And what's a better way to prove something than with data? While unbearable for some, large quantities of data make you feel like a fish in the water, because you constantly look for patterns, connections and root causes behind any result. You feel data h...

 Quite a delayed post for this - thanks to my busy end of the spring semester - but I HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING FELLOWSHIP! I am so excited to dive into my research and apply it to this field, attend conferences, present data, and network! 

  I am not the best at eloquently explaining topics such as this but WiseCrack on Youtube definitely is. I watched this video and wanted to share and slowly build upon this issue and how this projected facade is detrimental to society and how it has contributed to the issue of "anti-science" we have today. 

 I have been fortunate enough in my life to have met some wonderful and intelligent people. Some of my friends that I admire the most are always learning and pursuing knowledge. I don't mean that in an academic way either! They would all have their field of study for college and/or career but then in their free time, one of their hobbies would include some way of learning about other subjects. An old roommate of mine listened to podcasts every day and would learn the most obscure but useful things. My boyfriend is almost always watching videos about history just for the fun of it. So, in honor of these wonderful people in my life, I started learning astronomy for fun.

 

  This 5 minute white board presentation was an assignment for class that opened my eyes as to just how difficult it is to make a concise video about this kind of stuff! Here I discuss what mtDNA is, the proteins it encodes, nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins, and how proteins destined for the mitochondria get there from the nucleus.

!!!!!!  Super excited to announce that I have accepted the position of  UNTHSC's 2021 Orientation Leader for incoming GSBS students! GSBS - Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences We are still waiting to determine if this will be online or in person, nonetheless I will be in charge of making sure that students feel welcomed into the community and form bonds or connections with each other as well as with mentors and lab mates.  With that in mind, I know there are a lot of "icebreakers" that people just despise and sometimes even feel anxious about. If you have the time, I would love to know what kinds of games or introductory technique that you actually enjoy and feel is relevant? (by relevant, I mean getting to know things about an individual that may help find connections in interests rather than "tell me a fun/random fact") Leave a comment with your suggestions, opinions, critiques, etc!

 When trying to memorize different things in science, I always find it helpful to have a song and or visual to go with it (that helps the memory get stored in other places of your brain btw). For this week's neuroscience course, I wanted to learn the cranial nerves and went to YouTube for help. Luckily, Doctor Khalid shared this video in 2016 and I think it deserves more views because after only one watch through the song has gotten stuck in my head! I will try to add more videos like this that I use to study in case anyone else finds it useful.

                                About the video: Gretchen A. Johnson is interviewed by Viet Dinh about her  graduate career  journey including information about what she is currently working on, why it is important, and more!

  Bio:       I am a doctoral student at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in the North Texas Eye Research Institute studying the molecular effects of candidate glaucoma treatment drugs. Long term research interests include neurodegeneration and aging. In my free time, I like to run, play video games, paint, hike, and craft. Lastly, my Myers-Briggs personality type is INTJ! Narrative: My decision to come to UNTHSC was made at the end of my undergraduate career at the University of North Texas, Denton. At the time, I knew little of what could actually be done with a Bachelor of Science in biology. I went into college with forensics in mind because it was something I had seen on TV and thought was interesting enough to do long term. When the time came to apply to graduate programs, I did not even know where to begin! Luckily, through googling for advisors on graduate schools I came across the UNTHSC graduate advisor Joseph Warren. Dr. Warren graci...