This semester, as some may know, I have been interning in Dr. Jennifer Hackney
Price’s lab. Even though research has been slow (our virgin flies died after
collecting them for 2 weeks), I have learned how to identify flies and the
genetics behind the project. Dr. Hackney Price is an amazing mentor and I truly
cannot express how happy I am to be in her lab. With this in mind, I interviewed
her to see what her job was like.
Me: What is the best thing you like about being a professor?
Jennifer Hackney Price: Interacting with the students. It’s been fun to do
interactions with them in a lab, which I get geeked out about anyways,
because folks bring such good energy and interesting ideas.
interactions with them in a lab, which I get geeked out about anyways,
because folks bring such good energy and interesting ideas.
Me: Is it because you like helping or the personalities? What about the
students makes it fun?
students makes it fun?
Hackney Price: I think a little bit of both. Probably more of the
personalities because undergraduates come in with new ideas and they
haven’t been exposed to different techniques and fields. Everything they
come with is so brand new. Especially in lab, you guys come into lab
with all these crazy ideas and it’s like ‘wow, I never would’ve thought of
that! Let’s do it and see what happens!’, which is fun. In the classroom,
seeing the A-HA moments when it finally clicks and I’m just like ‘YES!’.
personalities because undergraduates come in with new ideas and they
haven’t been exposed to different techniques and fields. Everything they
come with is so brand new. Especially in lab, you guys come into lab
with all these crazy ideas and it’s like ‘wow, I never would’ve thought of
that! Let’s do it and see what happens!’, which is fun. In the classroom,
seeing the A-HA moments when it finally clicks and I’m just like ‘YES!’.
Me: [laughs] That’s nice, so what about the worst?
Hackney Price: [exhales] Can I say the same answer? [Laughs] As
excited as I get working with undergrads, you guys can be the most
frustrating group of people to work with. There’s been times when I’m
teaching and I see students that I know can do such a great job and then
they won’t show up to class, aren’t taking notes or don’t do the work. It
drives me absolutely batty because I know they can pass the class with
flying colors. I wouldn’t say it’s the worst thing but it is frustrating. The
other part is the flip side. There are students who pour their heart into
classes, show up to office hours, I teach them in a number of different
ways and encourage them but if it doesn’t click, there’s nothing you can
do. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
excited as I get working with undergrads, you guys can be the most
frustrating group of people to work with. There’s been times when I’m
teaching and I see students that I know can do such a great job and then
they won’t show up to class, aren’t taking notes or don’t do the work. It
drives me absolutely batty because I know they can pass the class with
flying colors. I wouldn’t say it’s the worst thing but it is frustrating. The
other part is the flip side. There are students who pour their heart into
classes, show up to office hours, I teach them in a number of different
ways and encourage them but if it doesn’t click, there’s nothing you can
do. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Me: A disappointment for sure. Why did you decide to enter your field?
Hackney Price: I’ve always loved science. I’ve always been a lab rat.
I’ve always been the science nerd. I remember, as a kid, I had a rock
collection and every rock was amazing. I’d show my parents my rocks
and they were so annoyed with me, carrying around my pocket-loads of
rocks. It’s always kind of has been who I was, I always wanted to figure
out what’s going on, how stuff works. I suppose it was in my genes.
I’ve always been the science nerd. I remember, as a kid, I had a rock
collection and every rock was amazing. I’d show my parents my rocks
and they were so annoyed with me, carrying around my pocket-loads of
rocks. It’s always kind of has been who I was, I always wanted to figure
out what’s going on, how stuff works. I suppose it was in my genes.
Me: I was about to say that it was in your DNA [laughs]. With that,
what is the most surprising thing about your field, to you?
what is the most surprising thing about your field, to you?
Hackney Price: How open the scientific community is. I’ve had so
many people share information with me that wasn’t published. People
are willing to share information, supplies and reagents to help move the
field along. That kind of sense of community is something I never even
thought about. For developmental biology, I have found that everybody is
helping each other out.
many people share information with me that wasn’t published. People
are willing to share information, supplies and reagents to help move the
field along. That kind of sense of community is something I never even
thought about. For developmental biology, I have found that everybody is
helping each other out.
Me: That’s interesting to know because I thought the scientific community
would be competitive like ‘who’s going to do the next big thing?’ or
‘who’s going to cure cancer?’.
would be competitive like ‘who’s going to do the next big thing?’ or
‘who’s going to cure cancer?’.
Hackney Price: Don’t get me wrong, some fields are more competitive
than others. In the fly community, there are a few notorious labs that are
really hard to work with. There’s a lot of variation but just in general,
I think folks who got into science did it because they want to know what’s
going on and the only way to do that is to work with each other.
than others. In the fly community, there are a few notorious labs that are
really hard to work with. There’s a lot of variation but just in general,
I think folks who got into science did it because they want to know what’s
going on and the only way to do that is to work with each other.
Through this interview, I found out more about her and the way she thinks. I
hope some of you were able to capture her honesty and humor. Until next time!
Citations:
Invertebrate development: Drosophila. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2018, from Overview of development website: http://biology.kenyon.edu/courses/biol114/Chap12/Chapter_12b.html
hope some of you were able to capture her honesty and humor. Until next time!
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| Figure 1. The developmental process of Drosophila melanogaster a.k.a fruit fly ("Invertebrate development: Drosophila", n.d.). Dr. Hackney Price's lab studies the genetics of these flies to better understand human genetics (the genes of these flies are closely related to those of humans). |
Citations:
Invertebrate development: Drosophila. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2018, from Overview of development website: http://biology.kenyon.edu/courses/biol114/Chap12/Chapter_12b.html
Hi Brenda! I think you did a great job showing a piece of your mentor's personality through the interview. Her response to the question about the harder part working with undergrad students resonated with me because this week I have really struggled with learning muscle actions. It's weird, I love anatomy and other anatomy topics have been fascinating to learn. But, for some reason, I cannot seem to retain muscle actions. It's funny how some things just don't click.
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