October 22, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR AMY MCMILLAN IN NY
Hi Jessica,
I am a biologist and the #1 thing you need in order to become one too is
to love biology! There are all kinds of jobs in biology including field
technicians who do work outside - such as sampling streams or lakes,
tracking and counting animals, assessing different habitats, and many
other outdoor things - laboratory technicians who work primarily in
molecular biology of some sort - doing protein assays, working on gene
expression, genotyping organisms, working on problems using microbes or
other easy-to-culture organisms etc. - and many other kinds of jobs as
well for biologists - for example teaching at the high school or college
level.

The kind of work that goes on in the lab depends on what the person in
charge of the lab is interested in. I am interested in questions about
population and conservation genetics so in my lab we work on a variety
of organisms, from insects and fish to birds and mammals. We have
isolated a number of genomic and mitochondrial markers for these
organisms and use those to genotype individuals (much like forensic
science). This involves DNA extraction, PCR (polymerase chain
reaction), electrophoresis of various kinds, and analysis of banding
patterns.

Other labs do many other kinds of science - I hope you will continue to
pursue your interests and find out more about biology!
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A: FROM MENTOR MINI VARUGHESE IN MD
What you do as a biologist depends on the level of degree. B.S. are techs and run experiments, the same ones, over and over. B.S. degrees don't usually have much say in what they do. With experience, you can into supervisory roles, like lab manager. B.S. jobs tend to 9 to 5. Very easy to get a job with laboratory experience.
M.S. have more say in experiments and are more often laboratory managers to begin with and do a lot of trouble shooting. Sometimes still 9 to 5. This degree has the most return on investment (time spent in school). Still pretty easy to get a job. But must have experience doing lab work.
Ph.D. run the lab once you have experience. You design the experiment. Rarely a 9 to 5 job. Pay scale for Ph.D.s in Science is not on scale for advanced degrees in other fields and it is much harder to get a job with a Ph.D. Don't get a Ph.D. unless you love what you are doing.
Not sure these are the answers you were looking for, but here it is.
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A: FROM MENTOR SUZAN SONG IN MA
Interesting - I was a biology major but don't know what a biologist does :)
The field offers so many career opportunities that you could really do
anything - you could do research, teach, or do field work for starters.

Research could be in marine biology, plant or animal biology,
molecular/cellular biology, genetics, etc. My friend studies seaweed, and
develops projects on how to classify different seaweeds. I used to do
cellular/molecular biology, and spent my days in a lab doing various assays
and lab techniques like DNA extraction, etc. and basically performing
different experiments.

Teaching is definitely also an option - for high school, universities,
community colleges or even community organizations. You could also go on to
get a masters in biology, and even a PhD and then become a professor.

There are definite traits/interests that would help:

1. Detail-oriented. Especially for research - it's important to be cautious bc
any little mistake could ruin a project (maybe even a years' worth of work!)

2. Consciencious. It's important to be alert and keen to pick up on your
results. If you get results that differ from what you thought - definitely
look into it.

3. Patient. To do most anything in life, you have to have the interest in the
topic to motivate you pursue goals. And you also have to be patient since
things take a long time - getting a PhD takes a few years (and longer). Lab
research takes a long time to get results. Just persevere and stick through
with it and hope that your results will inform you on something.

Sorry if i couldn't be that helpful, as it's not quite my field, but from my
experience doing biology research, these traits were definitely of use. hope
it helps, and feel free to contact me whenever!
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A: FROM MENTOR LESLIE WAITE IN CA
Hi Jessica;
"Biologist" is a really broad term, and covers so many fields. What
you will do depends on what kind of biology you get into. If you are
a marine biologist, you might spend a lot of time out on boats
collecting specimens or tracking what is happening with a specific
organism, then going back to an office to analyze the data you have
collected on a computer. If you study molecular biology, you will
spend a lot of time in a lab putting protein solutions into test
tubes or onto cells and seeing what happens. I do a lot of cell and
molecular biology, and my day consists of coming into work, looking
at cells under a microscope to see if they are healthy, and changing
the nutrient solution (called "media") that they grow in so they have
enough vitamins and amino acids to keep growing and dividing. Some
days, I take my cells and add different treatments to them to see how
they react. Since I study a disease of pregnancy, I usually treat
them with serum or other blood derivatives from pregnant women to see
what changes happen in the cells as a result. I monitor these changes
by looking for differences in which proteins are made by the treated
cells compared to cells that didn't get the treatment. To get at
these proteins, I crack the cells open with a detergent (not unlike
dishwashing soap), and then take this solution of cracked-open cells
and run it on a gel. A gel is just what it sounds like: it is a
gelatin-like substance that I pour out into a flat slab about a
quarter of an inch thick and let it solidify like jello. I punch
holes near one edge of the slab and I put a small amount of my cell
solutions into these holes. Then I put this slab into a container of
a salt solution and run an electric current through it. This electric
current forces the cell solution (which has all of the proteins from
the cell) into the gel slab, where the proteins that are small travel
fast, and the large ones go more slowly. This means that my proteins
separate in my gel according to size. I can then analyze my different
proteins from my cells.

I think the main traits you need to become a biologist are curiosity
and a desire to learn new things. Also, you have to be willing to
stick with things even when they are hard and you don't see how you
can possibly understand them. Think of a really tough brain teaser or
math problem. It takes a lot of work, and can be frustrating! But if
you stick with it and work at it, you can eventually get it. If this
is fun and/or rewarding to you, then you have what it takes to be a
good molecular biologist!

I think the only interest you need is an interest in the branch of
biology you want to go into. And don't shut yourself off too soon: I
didn't really like biology in High School, but when I got to college,
I really started to love it!