Open Letter to Those Considering Undergraduate Laboratory Studies

Allow me to spend a little time convincing you of the benefits of doing undergraduate laboratory work in an actual laboratory setting. For two and one-half years, while I was a student at the University of Colorado at Denver, I studied and worked in Dr. Stith's laboratory on campus. In addition to being involved in his internationally recognized research, I was also able to pick up extremely valuable experience that established a standard by which I was to be employed thereafter. I cannot understate the importance this has meant to securing each and every position I have held since leaving school.

Good examples of what employers expect from scientific undergraduates after graduation are solid foundations in basic laboratory skills. Glassware handling, the use of an analytical balance, quick and accurate molarity calculations, and the importance of a well-kept laboratory notebook are essential laboratory skills. Although these skills are taught in student laboratories to an extent, they cannot be appreciated until that effort can be applied to real life situations seen in the research labs on campus. A daily exposure to the everyday workings of a research laboratory will provide a student with more that he can use after school than any classroom laboratory can provide on an hour per week basis. The experience gained during a volunteer period of service or part-time employment in an academic research lab benefits not only those who wish to pursue laboratory or research careers, but also the aspiring medical student, and even those who never see a laboratory again for the entirety of their career.

I can directly relate some of my experiences in temporary positions that I have held to laboratory work I did in Dr. Stith's laboratory. While under the employment of Kelly Scientific Services, I was required to work in many different laboratory environments. I worked for Core Environmental Laboratories, performing organic extractions for a while. Understanding of the fundamental chemistry behind the separation of organic and aqueous chemical mixtures came directly from lipid extractions I performed while in the research lab. I spent a short time at a standards preparation lab in Boulder, working for Sievers Instruments, again able to refer back to my undergraduate research days for an understanding of reagent preparation, correct pipetting procedure, and the basics of instrumental testing with continuous flow apparatus.

Perhaps my most rewarding experience, however, came during my first day of an assignment with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. I was assigned immediately to the toxicology section of the laboratory, and for all intents and purposes it seemed as if I would spend the majority of this temporary position emptying urine samples for the analysts. The lab director walked in as I was being instructed on job procedure by a technician, and asked if I had any radiation experience. Much of my undergraduate research lab experience was related to using radioactive labeling with phosphorus-32 and tritium to identify protein activity. In addition, I had been required to take a short course on radioactive safety procedures with the University of Colorado. The result of having this experience: instant promotion from lab assistant to technician. My temporary service agency called later that day to inform me that I would also be earning a dollar extra an hour. I can't guarantee these exact experiences for everyone, but my point is, out of all the training the undergraduate research offered, that which was valuable was to be determined only after I was on the job.

The benefits of spending a year or two doing an independent study program, and gaining knowledge from the invaluable pool of experience that research laboratory work can offer are inestimable at the time, but, as I have tried to impress, of much more potential value later. Take some time to consider, as an undergraduate in the sciences, whether or not you can afford to miss this opportunity now. I propose that you may, in fact, never have a more direct chance to experience what should be a foundation of all undergraduate lessons- that all science starts in the lab.

-Patrick Ayres

University of Colorado at Denver, Class of May, 1998