Hamby Lab Culture and Expectations
Overall Philosophy
The Hamby lab works to empower its members to become healthy, happy, and confident independent scientists who can apply their expertise in pursuit of a wide variety of STEM careers. Dr. Hamby expects lab members to collaborate and support each other while respecting each other’s time and individual needs. More specifically, lab members should ask each other for help and provide help in return, sharing their skills, knowledge, time, and labor in an equitable manner. Anyone can be a successful entomologist, and diversity makes us better and stronger. Lab members are expected to be respectful of one another. Harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated. That being said, as humans we all make mistakes and have room to grow. Lab members, including Dr. Hamby, should be open to constructive feedback and willing to put in the work to improve. We will celebrate each other’s successes. Because mentors are as unique as mentees, offering a variety of strengths and perspectives, Dr. Hamby encourages the development of multiple mentorship relationships and collaborations outside the lab group. If you are considering joining the Hamby lab, please reach out to current and former members to discuss lab culture and Dr. Hamby’s mentorship style.
Responsibilities of Dr. Hamby
Dr. Hamby strives to ensure her lab members gain the skills and experiences necessary to reach their goals. She encourages lab members to ask for help and voice their needs, believes it is her responsibility to provide prompt constructive criticism, and supports lab members challenging themselves. Expect multiple rounds of revisions and extensive feedback on your products (e.g., presentations, writing, etc.). When lab members are first starting out, she provides substantial guidance and training. To ensure success as independent scientists, as lab members progress, she provides less and less guidance and encourages members to independently address management and research issues, serving as a safety net and sounding board.
Dr. Hamby is available for meetings at the lab member’s discretion, though these typically occur weekly or biweekly for newer members and on an as needed basis for senior members. She is frequently available in person and welcomes drop in questions unless otherwise noted on her office door. She is readily reached by email, and mentees can also contact her on her cell phone for urgent or time sensitive issues.
Specific Opportunities Provided*:
Responsibilities of Lab Members
Lab members are ultimately responsible for meeting their goals and will need to develop the time management and organizational skills necessary to maintain work-life balance and juggle their personal and professional responsibilities. Dr. Hamby will aid as requested, but each of us has our own unique solution and path. At the minimum, students must be aware of and meet graduation requirements, which includes a thesis or dissertation that is acceptable to their committee, if a degree is their goal. Lab members should also make every effort to deliver on promises made to funding sources, including meeting the expectations of any TAships.
Attendance and active engagement at most lab meetings is expected, excepting undergraduate members who are welcome if they are interested. Communication and correspondence between lab members should be responded to within 3 business days except during vacation or other leave.
Dr. Hamby will review all outputs produced specifically within/for the lab and is open to reviewing work produced outside the lab. Practice talks, documents, and other products need to be delivered to/scheduled with Dr. Hamby in advance to ensure sufficient time for multiple revisions. Larger products often require additional time, and it is the lab member’s responsibility to coordinate with Dr. Hamby and ensure sufficient time has been allotted to meet goals and deadlines.
Lab members are expected to take ownership of their work and to request aid from each other and Dr. Hamby as needed. Everyone makes mistakes and struggles, this is normal and part of becoming an independent scientist. In addition, this journey can be physically and emotionally difficult; let Dr. Hamby know and take the time for self-care and to care for the Hamby lab community. The Hamby lab’s role is to provide a safe and lower stakes place for lab members to try new things and learn. It is ok to learn that this work and/or lab is not a good fit, and it is also important to communicate that.
Scheduling
The Hamby lab maintains flexible work hours. Lab members should be putting in the work necessary to achieve their professional development and research goals, which varies depending on work efficiency and specific projects. During the hot summer months, the lab typically starts field work early in the morning to avoid heat stress. Vacation is also flexible, but progress and project needs must be considered when scheduling vacations. The vacationing lab member is responsible for making sure someone takes care of time sensitive activities and providing detailed written instructions and in-person training prior to taking leave. Living organisms work according to their own schedule, and the Hamby lab coordinates among ourselves to share this burden. For example, lab members coordinate holiday leave or take turns being available to take care of insect colonies.
Procedures and Best Practices
Data must be reproducible. This requires detailed documentation of the specifics of how data was collected and analyzed, as well as honest reporting of mistakes and flaws. All methods and data should be archived and labeled in physical binders as well as uploaded to organized folders in the Hamby lab shared google drive folder. It is recommended that ownership of the final versions of these shared folders and files be transferred to Dr. Hamby as they are completed to make things easier when you leave the lab.
Training should be recorded online as well as in hard copy and stored in the safety binder.
Labs and offices should be secured with lights off and door locked whenever empty during the day and at the end of the day by the last employee to leave the space. Take care to make sure you are not locking others out of the space.
Lab member’s safety is the top priority for all activities. Safety policies should be followed and enforced, and members should raise issues or concerns if they feel unsafe. Any issues or violations should be reported to Dr. Hamby.
Professional Development
Training, skill development, networking opportunities and professional development plans will be tailored as much as possible to the mentee’s individual career goals. Long- and short-term goals are discussed at a minimum annually during mutual expectations meetings. These goals are also regularly used when prioritizing efforts and making decisions.
Organizational Culture
Informal titles and means of address are acceptable. Lab members should extend professional courtesy and respect to one another, which includes paying forward help and opportunities received.
Closed toed shoes, long pants, and appropriate personal protective equipment will be worn at all times in the laboratory and field.
Lab members will work together to make sure that office and lab space is available to all members of the lab as needed and maintained in a clean and organized manner.
Lab resources are equitably shared and all members are responsible for making sure resources are available as needed. Lab members are responsible for coordinating purchasing to avoid redundancies and maintain inventory levels.
All members of the lab are responsible for reporting issues with equipment and personnel as soon as possible so that the team can work together to resolve problems. Issues with critical equipment, for example growth chambers, refrigerators, and freezers, should be reported directly to Dr. Hamby immediately.
The Hamby lab works to empower its members to become healthy, happy, and confident independent scientists who can apply their expertise in pursuit of a wide variety of STEM careers. Dr. Hamby expects lab members to collaborate and support each other while respecting each other’s time and individual needs. More specifically, lab members should ask each other for help and provide help in return, sharing their skills, knowledge, time, and labor in an equitable manner. Anyone can be a successful entomologist, and diversity makes us better and stronger. Lab members are expected to be respectful of one another. Harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated. That being said, as humans we all make mistakes and have room to grow. Lab members, including Dr. Hamby, should be open to constructive feedback and willing to put in the work to improve. We will celebrate each other’s successes. Because mentors are as unique as mentees, offering a variety of strengths and perspectives, Dr. Hamby encourages the development of multiple mentorship relationships and collaborations outside the lab group. If you are considering joining the Hamby lab, please reach out to current and former members to discuss lab culture and Dr. Hamby’s mentorship style.
Responsibilities of Dr. Hamby
Dr. Hamby strives to ensure her lab members gain the skills and experiences necessary to reach their goals. She encourages lab members to ask for help and voice their needs, believes it is her responsibility to provide prompt constructive criticism, and supports lab members challenging themselves. Expect multiple rounds of revisions and extensive feedback on your products (e.g., presentations, writing, etc.). When lab members are first starting out, she provides substantial guidance and training. To ensure success as independent scientists, as lab members progress, she provides less and less guidance and encourages members to independently address management and research issues, serving as a safety net and sounding board.
Dr. Hamby is available for meetings at the lab member’s discretion, though these typically occur weekly or biweekly for newer members and on an as needed basis for senior members. She is frequently available in person and welcomes drop in questions unless otherwise noted on her office door. She is readily reached by email, and mentees can also contact her on her cell phone for urgent or time sensitive issues.
Specific Opportunities Provided*:
- Participation in ~1 scientific conference per year, typically a local or regional conference until sufficient results for sharing at a national meeting
- Publication of peer-reviewed journal articles, usually at least 1 fully published prior to graduation
- Submission of appropriate grants and grant writing experience, including voluntary participation in grants Dr. Hamby leads as requested by the mentee
- Extension and field day presentations, determined by mentee interest and comfort level, typically more senior lab personnel
- Extension publications, typically collaborative efforts and offered by request/interest
- Teaching experience, after the first year typically 1 TAship per year, guest lectures in Dr. Hamby’s courses by request
- Supervision and mentoring of undergraduate research interns and hourly workers, undergraduate independent projects on a case-by-case basis
- Career advice and skill building lab workshops, topics and frequency by request
- Taking advantage of training and professional development opportunities beyond the lab group is also supported
Responsibilities of Lab Members
Lab members are ultimately responsible for meeting their goals and will need to develop the time management and organizational skills necessary to maintain work-life balance and juggle their personal and professional responsibilities. Dr. Hamby will aid as requested, but each of us has our own unique solution and path. At the minimum, students must be aware of and meet graduation requirements, which includes a thesis or dissertation that is acceptable to their committee, if a degree is their goal. Lab members should also make every effort to deliver on promises made to funding sources, including meeting the expectations of any TAships.
Attendance and active engagement at most lab meetings is expected, excepting undergraduate members who are welcome if they are interested. Communication and correspondence between lab members should be responded to within 3 business days except during vacation or other leave.
Dr. Hamby will review all outputs produced specifically within/for the lab and is open to reviewing work produced outside the lab. Practice talks, documents, and other products need to be delivered to/scheduled with Dr. Hamby in advance to ensure sufficient time for multiple revisions. Larger products often require additional time, and it is the lab member’s responsibility to coordinate with Dr. Hamby and ensure sufficient time has been allotted to meet goals and deadlines.
Lab members are expected to take ownership of their work and to request aid from each other and Dr. Hamby as needed. Everyone makes mistakes and struggles, this is normal and part of becoming an independent scientist. In addition, this journey can be physically and emotionally difficult; let Dr. Hamby know and take the time for self-care and to care for the Hamby lab community. The Hamby lab’s role is to provide a safe and lower stakes place for lab members to try new things and learn. It is ok to learn that this work and/or lab is not a good fit, and it is also important to communicate that.
Scheduling
The Hamby lab maintains flexible work hours. Lab members should be putting in the work necessary to achieve their professional development and research goals, which varies depending on work efficiency and specific projects. During the hot summer months, the lab typically starts field work early in the morning to avoid heat stress. Vacation is also flexible, but progress and project needs must be considered when scheduling vacations. The vacationing lab member is responsible for making sure someone takes care of time sensitive activities and providing detailed written instructions and in-person training prior to taking leave. Living organisms work according to their own schedule, and the Hamby lab coordinates among ourselves to share this burden. For example, lab members coordinate holiday leave or take turns being available to take care of insect colonies.
Procedures and Best Practices
Data must be reproducible. This requires detailed documentation of the specifics of how data was collected and analyzed, as well as honest reporting of mistakes and flaws. All methods and data should be archived and labeled in physical binders as well as uploaded to organized folders in the Hamby lab shared google drive folder. It is recommended that ownership of the final versions of these shared folders and files be transferred to Dr. Hamby as they are completed to make things easier when you leave the lab.
Training should be recorded online as well as in hard copy and stored in the safety binder.
Labs and offices should be secured with lights off and door locked whenever empty during the day and at the end of the day by the last employee to leave the space. Take care to make sure you are not locking others out of the space.
Lab member’s safety is the top priority for all activities. Safety policies should be followed and enforced, and members should raise issues or concerns if they feel unsafe. Any issues or violations should be reported to Dr. Hamby.
Professional Development
Training, skill development, networking opportunities and professional development plans will be tailored as much as possible to the mentee’s individual career goals. Long- and short-term goals are discussed at a minimum annually during mutual expectations meetings. These goals are also regularly used when prioritizing efforts and making decisions.
Organizational Culture
Informal titles and means of address are acceptable. Lab members should extend professional courtesy and respect to one another, which includes paying forward help and opportunities received.
Closed toed shoes, long pants, and appropriate personal protective equipment will be worn at all times in the laboratory and field.
Lab members will work together to make sure that office and lab space is available to all members of the lab as needed and maintained in a clean and organized manner.
Lab resources are equitably shared and all members are responsible for making sure resources are available as needed. Lab members are responsible for coordinating purchasing to avoid redundancies and maintain inventory levels.
All members of the lab are responsible for reporting issues with equipment and personnel as soon as possible so that the team can work together to resolve problems. Issues with critical equipment, for example growth chambers, refrigerators, and freezers, should be reported directly to Dr. Hamby immediately.