I talked to Ariadna Gonzalez Solis, a postdoc at UW–Madison, about her mentoring experience with the Biological Interactions Summer Research Program organized by WISCIENCE. During this ten-week program, visiting undergraduate students are placed in labs for intensive, hands-on research experience. Ariadna mentored Rachel Joo, helping her complete a research project in the Otegui Lab.
So first, could you tell me a little bit about yourself and the research you do here?
My name is Ariadna Gonzalez Solis. I am a postdoc in the Otegui Lab. I joined this lab two years ago and I’ve been working with this project in plant science, understanding how plant cells degrade proteins. And so we are using the Arabidopsis thaliana model plant. I did my PhD in the US working also with plants, studying the components of cell membranes. And in this lab, I am interested in combining what I learned in my PhD with other techniques so that we can better understand how plants respond to different stresses.
And at the same time, I really like mentoring young scientists, so this opportunity of working with Rachel was great. I’ve had the opportunity to work with other students here and mentor also the grad students. But I definitely think that this program is very intense, right? It’s a ten-week program working with an undergrad, and they are very enthusiastic and they want to learn more things, and so this was a very great experience for me, too.
Because we as mentors end up learning more sometimes than they do, so it’s very interesting to see what they are interested in learning. They all come with specific things, and then throughout the weeks, we try to meet and talk about, like, what did you learn this week, what would you like to focus more on. This is a great opportunity to realize if they want to do science. And if they want to do science, what they want to focus on. If they are interested in doing a PhD, what are the areas? So I think that’s been very good for me, too, trying to understand what their interests are.
So trying to then be flexible as mentors. And trying to expose the students to all the techniques. And if they make a mistake, just make sure that they know that we all make mistakes all the time. And sometimes just being able to laugh about it and be like, oh, yeah, now I will never forget that I have to pay attention to these specific details. I think those are very important.
So yeah, we had a great time. I learned a lot. I hope she enjoyed it too.
Is this your first time working with the summer research program?
With this specific program, yes. I’ve mentored undergrads before, but not in the context of the program. But I really like this program because of all the workshops and all the other materials that they have. They are doing their work in the lab, but at the same time they are attending lectures and talking to other people. I think that this is a very, very good program. I also like the way it’s set up so that everything flows very nicely from them. Getting a project, making the poster, and then writing their paper. Like, they have deadlines.
She was doing a project related to molecular biology. What I try to do is [expose her to] the common techniques that you would have to do if you’re working with a project like that. So okay, you have to do this reaction, you have to do this enzyme treatment, you have to do this gel electrophoresis. Just for her to have an idea of trying the techniques that she would have to do. So that was kind of my idea. She had her own project, and then whenever she had extra time, I would also show her other equipment we use in the lab, like different microscopes, in case that interests her in the future.
And it was great learning from her also, you know, like things that are new. And it’s interesting how we probably think the same way because we are working with this project, and then having fresh ideas and different questions. It’s always very informative to us, too. And the way she explains to people in her poster, for example, it’s like, oh yeah, that’s a great idea for us to take into consideration.
Is there anything that you learned specifically? Any takeaways or anything new that you’re going to think about differently?
So I think for me, the takeaway is just trying to adjust my mentoring to the needs of the students in their career stage. Because it’s not the same to mentor a grad student or work with another scientist that already has a very defined career path [as it is to mentor] an undergrad that is still exploring a lot of options. And that’s what this program is about, I think. More than creating a perfect project, it’s just exposing them to the science, to the options, and for them to then have a better idea of what they will be doing in the future. And that’s why I also feel like the program is very nice, because they also give them all these other options. They discuss with other people that probably have different career paths so then they can start thinking about that.
Rachel is still thinking about, do I really want to apply to grad school? Do I want to do something else? And she’s being exposed to these other different ideas, too. So as a mentor, we have the responsibility of saying, okay, this is what we do. And I think that’s what I learned, just trying to adjust my mentoring to the needs of the student. For her, it was more like trying to show her, okay, if you decide to go to grad school, these will be the things that you will have to do, or these are the things that you will have to take into account. And for us as mentors, we have to be flexible to adjust.
And also letting them know that it’s okay to make mistakes, to be wrong, and to fail sometimes, and then go back and fix it. Because sometimes they are very scared about making mistakes and telling you. And I think that was something that with Rachel, I’m like, that’s better sometimes just to say that I made a mistake, because that’s gonna save you a lot of time. Rather than pretend that everything was great and then be like, oh, by the way I made a mistake earlier. You know, like also telling them that it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s okay. And then you just have to be honest about this, and this is what science is, right? Things don’t work the first time and that’s kind of the idea. So yeah, I think it was great. It was a great summer.