Magpie day #1: interesting links to science careers

I've just returned from two conferences that focused on educating students for careers in science and technology and what do I find here at the home fort? There's Chad writing a very nice series on science careers!

I was a little puzzled by PNAS acryonym in his titles since to me, PNAS stands for "Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists" and is a high impact scientific journal. But then I realized that Chad is a physicist and he might not know this. It's quite possible that PNAS isn't as big in the physics community as it is in biology.

Anyway, this is a very nice series, so way to go Chad!

And teachers and career counselors pay attention! These kinds of jobs are great and you should have your students reading Chad's interviews.

Here are some of my favs.

PNAS: Pam Korda, Medical Device Developer

You may not know this, but many kinds of things are considered medical devices. To give a brief definition, medical devices are things that are not drugs. They do not alter your body's metabolism. Many kinds f diagnostic tests, like the pregnancy tests you can get at the drug store, are medical devices.

PNAS: Dennis Lee, Biotech Researcher


PNAS: Nicole Leuke, Science Teacher


PNAS: Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Enzyme Scientist


PNAS: Patricia Crotwell, Sanford Genetics Lab

i-1c1764931a7f2f9a58b468039c21a8b9-metal thing.jpg
Figure 1. You can make things like this with a two year degree from a community college.

More like this

"One of the difficulties with trying to broaden the usual definition of scientists is that there's not a lot of press for non-academic science," Chad Orzel wrote recently on Uncertain Principles. So he decided to give it some exposure himself. Chad's call for scientists with non-academic careers…
(On July 16, 2009, I asked for volunteers with science degrees and non-academic jobs who would be willing to be interviewed about their careers paths, with the goal of providing young scientists with more information about career options beyond the pursuit of a tenure-track faculty job that is too…
(On July 16, 2009, I asked for volunteers with science degrees and non-academic jobs who would be willing to be interviewed about their careers paths, with the goal of providing young scientists with more information about career options beyond the pursuit of a tenure-track faculty job that is too…
(On July 16, 2009, I asked for volunteers with science degrees and non-academic jobs who would be willing to be interviewed about their careers paths, with the goal of providing young scientists with more information about career options beyond the pursuit of a tenure-track faculty job that is too…

Finding your career in science is a big decision. There is a pressing need for more resources, like Chadâs interviews, to be available to students. Iâm involved with a documentary, âNaturally Obsessed: the making of a scientist,â which follows PhD candidates in a molecular biology lab and many people are commenting that it provides a real peek into lab life: (http://naturallyobsessed.com/blog/category/science-careers/). This is the kind of stuff that we should be showing students who are considering a career in science!

I have to admit I was confused by the PNAS bit too! At first blush I actually thought he was doing profiles of authors in PNAS, like the ones that they do in PNAS for new members... duh...!

By BioinfoTools (not verified) on 10 Aug 2009 #permalink

Resources can be a hard thing to share between teachers. There is a place online that I just found that would be a great home for resources like Chad's. It's called http://applebatch.com. This website is a new Teacher Network site that allows teachers to share resources like the one Chad is writing. Teachers can benefit from resources like this one. While inside the website, teachers can also build up their own Teacher Community to find jobs or share numerous other resources.

Iâm involved with a documentary, âNaturally Obsessed: the making of a scientist,â which follows PhD candidates in a molecular biology lab...

Out of curiosity, were you people aware of Natalie Angier's Natural Obsessions, on exactly the same topic, when you chose that title?

Also, I believe Chad noted that he was familiar with PNAS when he chose that for his series, and I think it's intended to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek.