How Do You Science | Meet a Student Scientist

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.

How do you become a scientist? What does a scientist's day look like? Is being a scientist fun?

In this episode, we meet Kalli Stephens, a student scientist at Washington State University. We learn about what she does in the lab and how to find your place in science as a young person. 

As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next!

As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Transcript

Dr. Universe
Welcome back young scientists. I'm Dr. Universe, and if you're anything like me, you've got lots of big questions about our world. 

I answer lots of science questions. But sometimes people wonder about science itself. Caitlin from Texas asked, "How does science work? How long do you have to train to become a scientist?" In this new series, we're going to talk with all kinds of scientists about their work and the paths they took with science. Let's get started.

I met Kalli Stephens when I was answering a question about how to become a scientist. She's a student scientist in WSU's Center for Reproductive Technology. Kalli spends about 10 hours in the lab every week because she's running her own project. That's something most students scientists don't get to do until graduate school. 

I'm so excited to talk to you. So you are a college student right now, right?

Kalli
Yes. I'm a senior at Washington State University studying genetics and cell biology. So I should be done in May.

Dr. Universe
Can you tell me a little bit about your plan after you get done?

Kalli
I actually have a couple of interviews at graduate schools this semester. And then hopefully, in the fall, I'll start graduate school. My plan is to go into translational biosciences.

Dr. Universe
Awesome. So that has to do with proteins, right?

Kalli
A lot with proteins and a lot with how can we make this data more applicable to humans. How can we apply this information.

Dr. Universe
So one of the cool things -- and one of the reasons that I got to meet you -- is because you are an undergraduate college student, but you're also already doing research. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got involved in research?

Kalli
Yeah, definitely. I actually went to community college first. But when I transferred to WSU, I knew I wanted to work in reproductive biology. So I emailed the main professor I wanted to work with and sent her my resume, and just said, "Hi, I'm interested in volunteering for you. Do you have time to meet with me? Can we talk a little bit?" And she was like, "Yeah, come in and meet with me." And I ended up working with her for four years. I started in fall of 2019.

Dr. Universe
So what kind of work do you do in the lab?

Kalli
I get to do a lot of different things. I help take care of the mice that we use for our research. I help do just general chores around the lab -- dishes, basic things like that. But then I also have had the opportunity to work on some of the more specific projects in the lab. Right now, my project focuses on figuring out what's happening during the first three to four days of pregnancy, so that we can help develop a better way for us to copy those first few days in a dish for people that maybe can't have children or things like that.

Dr. Universe
That's amazing. And I know that one of the ways that scientists communicate their work is through publishing papers. And you have gotten to do that too, right?

Kalli
I have. I'm kind of lucky that way, I guess. I've gotten to work on two different papers. So one was a review paper, just summarizing a topic in reproduction. And then the other one was a research paper where we were looking at the actions of hormones on the reproductive system.

Dr. Universe
That's so exciting. I love that so much. What other kinds of benefits -- I know we had talked before about like going to conferences and meeting people there?

Kalli
Yeah, so going to conferences is a great way to kind of network, which is like meeting people that are maybe at different schools doing similar things to you so that you can build this group of people who you can reach out to if you have questions or if you're stumped on things. Or if you need help with writing a paper or help applying for a certain funding source or things like that. You kind of have the opportunity to build a network of people who are more experienced than you by going to these conferences -- which is a huge perk as an undergraduate to have the opportunity to do that and to meet professors and stuff.

Dr. Universe
I'm curious, when you reached out to the professor that you're working with, what gave you the motivation to do that? What gave you the idea to just reach out and email?

Kalli
In a freshman orientation that I went to they were talking about ways to get experience, ways to prepare you better for doing things like graduate school. And they recommended: just reach out to professors; you'll be surprised how excited they are to hear from you guys. So I took that advice, and it went very well for me.

Dr. Universe
Were you nervous to email?

Kalli
I was very nervous. I was nervous that I wouldn't even get a response. They're so busy. They're doing research. They're teaching classes. There's no way they'll answer my email about volunteering. But they did. And we met and that went really well.

Dr. Universe
So what is your favorite part of doing science and the research you've been doing? 

Kalli
I think my favorite parts are those little A-ha! moments. When you finally get to the part of the experiment you're doing, where you get your results, and you're like, "Ah, this is exactly what we've been striving for." Or when something just really clicks. Those are my favorite moments, I think.

Dr. Universe
Is there anything that would surprise people about how science works in real life?

Kalli
I think the thing that was the most surprising to me was just the sheer number of people it takes to write a single research paper. The authors that are listed on the paper are the main contributors, but there's also all the other people involved at the university who made it possible for those people to do what they're doing. So I think it's important to acknowledge that it's not just the researchers. We need administration to really help us move things forward.

Dr. Universe
Did you always know that you wanted to do science? 

Kalli
Yeah, from the time I was a little girl I was thinking about being a veterinarian and then a nurse. And then I wanted to be a doctor. And now I'm actually in school and doing research and have figured out that that's really what I want to do.

Dr. Universe
Do you have any advice for kids who are listening who are like 8 or 13 who want to be where you are in a few years?

Kalli
Get involved with your school science fairs, if you have that opportunity. If you don't have that opportunity, things like Dr. Universe are great. You can listen to podcasts or things like that. I think really just fueling your desire to learn and your creativity is a great way to prepare for later because problem solving is a huge part of what we do as scientists.

Dr. Universe
Thanks for having this quick chat with me.

Kalli
Thank you so much for having me. I was really excited to come on. 

Dr. Universe
Since recording this episode, Kalli got some great news. She was accepted to the Translational Biosciences PhD program at the University of Missouri. She’ll head there after she graduates from WSU. So many congratulations to the future Dr. Kalli Stephens.

That's all for this episode, friends. As always, if you've got a science question tickling your brain, you can submit it at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. That's a s k d r u n i v e r s e dot w s u dot e d u. Who knows where your questions will take us next.