Talking with undergrads

"That's the sort of thing you should put in your notebook"

"That's the sort of thing you can find on Google"

"That's the sort of thing you should wear gloves for"



"Let me know if we're running low on something"

"I'd like you to write down what we did today as a flowchart. Then we can talk about what might have gone wrong"

"I'd like you to read up on how PCR works"

"Y"know, some people just secrete unusually high levels of nucleases; it's not their fault, but this kind of lab work just isn't for them."

"Have you thought about bioinformatics?"

"Have you thought about biotech?"

"Have you thought about medical school?"

"Let me know if you take the last tube of something"

"You should really let me know if we are out of anything"

"I know everyone wears open-toed shoes, I just don't think you should"

"I'd keep your notebook slightly further from the bunsen burner"

"We're the cells completely resuspended? Completely? Yes I trust you, I'm just making sure"

"Well, DNA doesn't vanish"

"Well, cells don't vanish"

"I know [PIs name] said you should do it, but it would take three weeks just to make the plasmids, and I would probably end up doing all the work. Did I say that out loud?"

"How long until you graduate?"

"When is your thesis due?"

"Writing your thesis will take longer than you think it will"

"Making this presentation will take longer than you think it will"

"Since you only showed this to me a few days before it's due, let's just focus on 'big picture' stuff"

"You want to go to grad school?"