Career profile: postdoctoral research scientist (ecology)
In this career profile, Katie describes her role as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist working in ecology. This is one of a series of career profiles exploring lots of different jobs in genomics.
About me:
Name: Katie
Job title: Postdoctoral Research Scientist
What do I do: My project looks at seasonal populations of two UK hoverfly species, the Marmalade Hoverfly and Dronefly, as they are both partial migrants. If, when and where they choose to migrate is determined by their DNA. By studying their DNA we can learn about how migration is controlled. This is important as hoverflies perform many beneficial tasks throughout their lifecycle including pollination, pest control and nutrient recycling.
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Skills I use in my job:
Communication
I discuss my work with others from varying fields, with new and interesting perspectives, in order to achieve the best project progression.
Coding
I use code, with bioinformatics tools, to analyse and visualise my data.
Problem solving
This is another important and everyday part of my role. Communication and teamwork often help overcome problems.
Analysis
Much of my work involves analysing and interpreting data. This can range from analysing lab-based experiments to checking the quality and quantity of DNA from an extraction, to computational investigation of data.