WHAT IS A POST-DOC? and job update!

TL;DR

Research scientist Jessica shares her experience transitioning from a PhD to a postdoc role in environmental chemistry and discusses her projects and responsibilities in this field.

Transcript

hello my YouTube friends and welcome back to my Channel or if you're new here my name is Jessica and I am a research scientist in the field of environmental chemistry and I finished my PhD at the beginning of this year so for today's video I actually wanted to give you a little update on how my job is going because I have now been in my job for 8 m... Read More

Key Insights

• 💦 Jessica's postdoc role involves working on multiple projects, which requires coordination with various researchers and applying her knowledge of chromatography and mass spectrometry.
• 😒 She primarily uses the Perkin Elmer triple quad MS instrument for targeted analysis, allowing for sensitive detection and quantification of specific analytes.
• 👨‍🔬 Jessica's responsibilities as a research scientist include writing papers, attending conferences, applying for grants, supervising students, developing methods, validating methods, and processing data.
• 👶 Transitioning from a PhD to a postdoc requires adapting to new research fields and familiarizing oneself with different applications and compounds.
• 👨‍🔬 The postdoc role offers opportunities for collaboration, presenting research, and coming up with new ideas for research projects.
• 👨‍🔬 Method development, method validation, and data processing are crucial aspects of environmental chemistry research.
• ⌛ Specialization in a specific area may take time, but expertise in a particular instrument or method can be gained.

Questions & Answers

Q: How is Jessica's postdoc role different from her PhD experience?

Jessica's postdoc role involves working on multiple projects and different compound classes, while her PhD focused on one main topic. She has to read extensively to keep up with the various projects and does not specialize in a specific area yet.

Q: What is targeted analysis in environmental chemistry?

Targeted analysis involves using specific masses to detect and quantify analytes of interest in a sample. It allows for increased sensitivity by disregarding interference from other compounds present in the sample.

Q: What are some responsibilities of a research scientist in environmental chemistry?

Research scientists in this field are responsible for writing research papers, attending conferences, applying for research grants, developing methods for sample analysis, validating methods, and supervising students.

Q: What are some projects Jessica is currently working on?

Jessica is working on projects involving pharmaceutical levels in river water, pesticides, endocrine disruptors, antibiotic levels in soils, and pasas (phosphorus acid esters) in fish and water samples.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Jessica recently started her job as a postdoc researcher in environmental chemistry, focusing on emerging contaminants in various environmental samples such as river water, sediment, soil, fish, and food.

• She applies her chromatography and mass spectrometry skills in her current role, mainly using the Perkin Elmer triple quad MS instrument for targeted analysis.

• Jessica works on multiple projects and has responsibilities such as writing research papers, attending conferences, applying for research grants, supervising students, and developing methods for sample cleanup and analysis.