Career Plans?! I can't stay at Duke forever?
The coolest thing about working in a cell/molecular lab was working with real DNA! I had to get used to wearing latex gloves and pipetting ridiculously small amounts of DNA from zebrafish tail clippings into PCR mixes. I'm really happy that I can see to my future lab that I've dealt with DNA.
So why should I be so excited about this? If you have ever watched the show BONES on FOX, then you might be familiar with forensic anthropology which is the identification of human skeletal remains in a forensic context. I began reading some memoirs and case books by Dr. Bill Bass, founder of the "Body Farm" at UT, and Dr. William Maples, director of the CA Pound Human ID Lab at UF. This field appeals to me because I love the social sciences and the methods employed in forensic anthropology are used in archaeology as well. There's a real human connection because while you are using scientific approaches, you are using them on a person that was alive and no different from you. You can be involved in historical cases and even cases dealing with human evolution.
