Rock Your Research With Chris Jones

This interview is full of great advice! Amanda attributes her success to the positive relationships she developed during graduate school and outreach experiences. Listen to her share her graduate school experiences and how she became a postdoc at the Smithsonian Institute.   Amanda is a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Her research focuses on the evolutionary biology of ferns. Particularly exploring the patterns and processes that have given rise to modern plant diversity. She has a PhD in Biology from Duke University. Biggest Struggle  Dealing with jealous and feeling that her accomplishments weren't as good as her peers. Worst Moment Trying to keep personal life from interfering with productivity. Best Moment Receiving first large grant (the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Improvement Program Grant). Mindful Minutes Segment Habit: Perserverence Book: (1) The Chicago Guide to Landing a Job in Academic Biology by Chandler, Wolfe, and Promislow (2

A self proclaimed geek for history, pedagogy and technology, Kevin (a.k.a. "The Tattooed Professor") thrives on experimentation and breaking free from convention. Listen to Kevin share his struggles with impostor syndrome, how his first tenure track position wasn't what he was expecting, and his current advice for job seekers on the academic market.    Kevin is an associate professor of history and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. To learn more about Kevin check out his blog at The Tattooed Professor. Biggest Struggle:   Dealing with impostor syndrome and the general feelings of inadequacy that come along with it. Worst Moment:  Having a member of his committee try to talk him into doing a different project after he was already ABD. Best Moment:  Getting his first paper published and having a great experience with the revision process. Mindful Minutes Segment:  Habit: Daily writing practice Book: How to Write a Lot: A Practi

Nick struggled with the challenges of doing an interdisciplinary PhD, but it ultimately made him well prepared to be a journal editor. Listen to Nick discuss his experiences as a graduate student, how he landed his position as a senior editor at Science Magazine, and his advice for publishing in top journals like Science. Nick is a senior editor at Science. He received his PhD from Virginia Tech. Nick was a postdoc at EPFL in Switzerland prior to taking his position at Science in 2009. He handles papers in the broad area of environmental science, along with those that fall at the interface of microbiology and chemistry. Biggest Struggle  Being interdisciplinary and not having anyone in his department to talk to about what he does. Worst Moment Being at Virginia Tech during the shooting. Best Moment Getting his first paper published. Mindful Minutes Segment Habit: Curiosity Book: The Martian by Andy Weir Productivity Tool: WorkFlowy Best Advice: You don't really learn anything until you write the pap

With young children and a job during graduate school, work life balance was a challenge, to say the least.  But Oliver managed to not only finish his dissertation, but to feel like a peer to his professors during his defense. Listen to Oliver share his best and worst grad school moments, and how he ultimately became an associate professor at Clemson University.  Oliver is an associate professor at Clemson University in the Mechanical Engineering department. His research focuses on the characterization of smart materials and smart structure mechanics of systems ranging from nano- to micro-scales. He received his PhD for the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2007. Biggest Struggle  Having a family while doing his PhD Worst Moment Having the professor in charge of his qualifying exam not respond and keep postponing his exam for many many months Best Moment His defense and feeling that he was finally a peer to professors he had looked up to. Mindful Minutes Segment Habit: Time management Book: 

A PhD Life Coach? Jen never imagined a career as a life coach. But after her own challenges in graduate school, she realized that her passions and talents would best be used as an academic, life, and career coach for graduate students and PhDs. Now, Jen has launched her own business where she helps PhD students and recent PhDs identify their own passions and launch meaningful careers. Listen to her interview to hear about her experience in graduate school, how she decided to become a PhD Life Coach, and her advice for current grad students. Jen has a PhD in history from the University of Toronto. You can learn more about Jen on her website. She has many useful posts and resources about being a graduate student that I encourage you to go check out. Biggest Struggle Not having a system for getting work done Worst Moment Her committee gave her 4 months to finish her dissertation but she didn't have a system Best Moment Creating a newsletter for the department during her first year as a PhD student. Mind

John always knew that he wanted to be a writer, but his journey from grad student to contributing correspondent for Science wasn’t always clear. Now, John has spent half of his adult life traveling or living abroad, writing about science stories around the world. Hear him describe his rough start to graduate school, how he graduated, and how he made the career transition to journalist. Dr. John Bohannon is a Science contributing correspondent and writes for Wired and other magazines. His stories range from civilian casualties in Afghanistan, where he embedded with NATO forces in 2010, to the first experimental test of people's ability to distinguish paté from dog food. He runs the annual "Dance Your PhD" contest. He has a PhD in molecular biology from Oxford University. Biggest Struggle Not getting anything to work for the entire first year of his PhD Worst Moment Was having a lab mate actually find the mutation that he was looking for after he had given up on finding it Best Moment Finishing the PhD

  Melissa discusses her personal challenges with impostor syndrome and finding balance in her life. Melissa realized that graduate school is her life… meaning there are no set hours, and it can be easy to neglect your personal life. She says that you have to make the time to enjoy your friends and family. And that work life balance will lead to being more successful in your science. Dr. Melissa Wilson Sayres is an Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences and The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. Her main research interests are in sex chromosome evolution, sex-biased processes, population genetics, and comparative genomics. Learn more about her research interests or read her blog. Biggest Struggle Impostor syndrome. Worst Moment Deleting many weeks worth of completed analysis. Best Moment Realizing that graduate school is her life... meaning that you are never finished but you need to be able to take time to enjoy other things. Mindful Minutes Segment Habit: Promptly answerin

Maggie struggled with uncertainty about her future career while she was a graduate student. But her fears disappeared during her last year of graduate school when she landed her dream job--assistant professor at Appalachian State University. Listen to Maggie's story to hear about her best and worst moments in graduate school, and how she went on to the career of her dreams. Maggie is an assistant professor at Appalachian State University. She received her PhD from UNC Chapel Hill in Geography. She was awarded an EPA STAR Fellowship and an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grant while in grad school. Her research focuses on where and when heat-related illnesses occur and how these patterns relate to the environment, socioeconomic conditions, and climate. Biggest Struggle Uncertainty about future career. Worst Moment Receiving a 16 page single-spaced review from the same reviewer at 2 different journals. Best Moment Receiving her EPA STAR Fellowship and NSF DDRI in the same year. Mindful M

Rock Your Research is a podcast created for you, the graduate student. If you are looking for inspiration, community, and advice then we have you covered. Each episode brings you an amazing PhD, who shares their journey. They talk about their biggest struggles and worst and best moments as graduate students. They also talk about their current career and the path they took to get there. The MINDFUL MINUTES ends the show with awesome resources that the researcher uses to stay productive and motivated. So join us on this journey and prepare to rock your research.