Women in Science - Online Interviews

Ann Ganesan

1. Give a brief description of your job telling what you do, (a day in your life) but also what you do specifically in your position.

My title is Senior Research Associate, and my responsibilities are varied. Some are very routine while others are not. As an example of the routine chores, I take care of the laboratory culture collections, including various plasmids, bacterial strains and mammalian cell lines. This involves bookkeeping (to keep track of the cultures and make sure we have records describing them accurately) and freezing the cultures so they can be stored for long periods of time without losing viability or changing their genetic characteristics. As an example of my less routine activities, I am investigating an aspect of DNA repair. The primary research interest of the laboratory in which I work is DNA repair. That means that we try to understand how cells maintain the integrity of their genetic information. This involves reading literature to try to keep up with what is going on in this area of research. It also involves designing and performing experiments to try to answer specific questions about DNA repair. In addition, I make recommendations to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in the laboratory about the design and execution of experiments (not that they necessarily follow my recommendations). Sometimes I supervise undergraduate students working on honors projects in this laboratory. Sometimes I attend scientific meetings to find out what is new in my area of research, and present the results of my experiments.

2. How did you decide upon your career? When did you know you wanted to do it and how did you prepare for it?

It seems that I have always known that I wanted to be a scientist, but when I was in the 4th grade I wanted to be an astronomer. Later, when I was in the 5th grade I decided I wanted to be a biologist. When I was in high school I decided that I wanted to be a geneticist. But it was not until I was in college that I decided that I wanted to do microbial genetics, which is what I finally did for my graduate work.

3. What is the best thing about your job?

The best thing about my job is the flexibility and independence. I have alot of freedom to choose the hours I work and the projects I work on.

4. What do you like the least?

The thing I like the least is that sometimes very tedious experiments go wrong for some unknown reason. Then I have to do the experiment again without knowing whether it will work or not.

5. As a kid, what kinds of things did you do to prepare for this job? What books did you read or what things did you do that let you know you would like this field?

I read all kinds of books about animals and plants and planets and stars. I collected butterflies and moths. And I had lots of pets, including birds, snakes, turtles, mice, hamsters, cats, dogs and horses.

6. Was there any person (parent, teacher, mentor, professor) you felt influenced you to pursue this field?

Both my parents encouraged me, but my father might have had the most influence. He was a doctor and got books and equipment (like microscopes) for me. As far as the specialty I eventually chose (i.e. bacterial genetics) that came from a project I did in a bacteriology course I took in college. The professor in that course encouraged me in this project and helped me when I applied to graduate school.

7. What is your favorite quote?

"Keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole."

8. What advice do you have for young women who might be interested in the field of science?

If you really like science, go for it! At the very least, educated people these days should understand enough about science to know how it affects their lives and how to make informed choices about things (like medical care, for example). If one is considering science as a career, be sure you acquire a reasonable idea what is involved before specializing. For women, it seems that biology, especially microbiology, is more "female friendly" than some other fields, like applied chemistry or physics.

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1.	Give a brief description of your job telling what you do, (a day in your life) but also what you do specifically in your position.
	My title is Senior Research Associate, and my responsibilities are varied. Some are very routine while others are not. As an example of the routine chores, I take care of the laboratory culture collections, including various plasmids, bacterial strains and mammalian cell lines. This involves bookkeeping (to keep track of the cultures and make sure we have records describing them accurately) and freezing the cultures so they can be stored for long periods of time without losing viability or changing their genetic characteristics. As an example of my less routine activities, I am investigating an aspect of DNA repair. The primary research interest of the laboratory in which I work is DNA repair. That means that we try to understand how cells maintain the integrity of their genetic information. This involves reading literature to try to keep up with what is going on in this area of research. It also involves designing and performing experiments to try to answer specific questions about DNA repair. In addition, I make recommendations to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in the laboratory about the design and execution of experiments (not that they necessarily follow my recommendations). Sometimes I supervise undergraduate students working on honors projects in this laboratory. Sometimes I attend scientific meetings to find out what is new in my area of research, and present the results of my experiments.
2.	How did you decide upon your career? When did you know you wanted to do it and how did you prepare for it?
	It seems that I have always known that I wanted to be a scientist, but when I was in the 4th grade I wanted to be an astronomer. Later, when I was in the 5th grade I decided I wanted to be a biologist. When I was in high school I decided that I wanted to be a geneticist. But it was not until I was in college that I decided that I wanted to do microbial genetics, which is what I finally did for my graduate work.
3.	What is the best thing about your job?
	The best thing about my job is the flexibility and independence. I have alot of freedom to choose the hours I work and the projects I work on.
4.	What do you like the least?
	The thing I like the least is that sometimes very tedious experiments go wrong for some unknown reason. Then I have to do the experiment again without knowing whether it will work or not.
5.	As a kid, what kinds of things did you do to prepare for this job? What books did you read or what things did you do that let you know you would like this field?
	I read all kinds of books about animals and plants and planets and stars. I collected butterflies and moths. And I had lots of pets, including birds, snakes, turtles, mice, hamsters, cats, dogs and horses.
6.	Was there any person (parent, teacher, mentor, professor) you felt influenced you to pursue this field?
	Both my parents encouraged me, but my father might have had the most influence. He was a doctor and got books and equipment (like microscopes) for me. As far as the specialty I eventually chose (i.e. bacterial genetics) that came from a project I did in a bacteriology course I took in college. The professor in that course encouraged me in this project and helped me when I applied to graduate school.
7.	What is your favorite quote?
	"Keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole."
8.	What advice do you have for young women who might be interested in the field of science?
	If you really like science, go for it! At the very least, educated people these days should understand enough about science to know how it affects their lives and how to make informed choices about things (like medical care, for example). If one is considering science as a career, be sure you acquire a reasonable idea what is involved before specializing. For women, it seems that biology, especially microbiology, is more "female friendly" than some other fields, like applied chemistry or physics.