Working in The Data Diversity Lab as An Undergraduate Student
Everyone has a place at the Data Diversity Lab! Learn more about my experiences as an undergraduate student working within management at the DDL including my role, the leadership of the lab, and outside activities.
Kennedy Gezella
My Role and My Experience
As an undergraduate student not working toward a career in informational sciences or ecology, my role in the Data Diversity Lab is a bit different than most — for reference, I had never even wrote a single line of code until this role , now I can edit them (mostly by myself)! I work directly under Cristian, our labs founder and principal investigator. Though I do mostly administrative work with Cristian including maintaining the website, our wiki, and a few other assistive tasks, I am certainly a part of the lab’s amazing team. This team has allowed me to have the role I currently have and have so many achievements that I always have an opportunity to update our website. They are the reason my position can even exist!
From an outside perspective, I have learned so much about topics that I would likely never even hear of in my current educational path. Each member of the team offers their own niche and knowledge and I always look forward to learning more during our weekly lab meetings. I have even found ways to integrate what I learn in the lab into my own classes. For example, a wonderful coworker, Kristen, taught me the joys of learning to interpret a phylogenetic tree for one of my science prerequisites. This just goes to show that no matter what your interests are, there is always room to grow and learn in the Data Diversity Lab, especially from the amazing people you are surrounded by.
My sticker and mug design for the lab! (logo not designed by me)
Leadership
The Data Diversity Lab fosters an environment of understanding, compassion, and growth. These ideals are all brought forward by our PI, Cristian. Furthermore, this is exacerbated by our consistent teamwork in the lab — also brought to you by Cristian. This teamwork found through group projects, weekly coworking time, or weekly lab meetings ensures that each member of the team, whether they are an undergraduate student or are in a postdoctoral position, has the space they need to ask questions, gather opinions, and learn more! I think we all have learned and grown in one way or another in our time throughout the lab, something that could not have been achieved without the leadership style we work under. There is no such thing as a dumb question or asking for too much help. There is always someone to support you through everything and each individual has the opportunity to be the student or teacher.
Outside Activities
In addition to maintaining our website and participating in other clerical tasks, I also work with Cristian to plan the many fun activities that we as lab members get to do together outside of the work day. You can get a great preview on our “Photos” page (also under news), but experiencing it is much more fun! From hikes to dinners to game nights, we are always finding a way for lab members to connect beyond shared careers or interests. This makes the lab even more enjoyable to be a part of as at least for me personally, I know I can always tell my stories, reach out for help, or just generally have someone to depend on.
Conclusion
To conclude, I want to simply state that finding the Data Diversity Lab’s opening on Handshake my sophomore year was one of the best things that has happened to me at the University of Arizona. I found a great group of people that always listen no matter how much I talk. I also got to learn so much about topics that I likely wouldn’t have learned about. Finally, I became part of a team that I will never forget!