 Hi everybody, my name is Jason Klein. I'm the director of P20 initiatives at Northern Illinois University and part of my job is to work with school districts and community colleges throughout Illinois on all kinds of things to make learning more exciting and more authentic for all of our students. With that, one of the big areas in which I work is on the career pathways and helping students think about college and career readiness. Obviously right now as everybody is sheltering in place at home, we can't go out and experience job shadowing or internships in the workplace. So with our career pathways virtual trailhead series, we're bringing that to you via YouTube. We're meeting with people from all different kinds of occupations. And so today we're really exciting. This one's going to be different. It's probably one of those careers that you have no idea exists. And so we're going to get our science on but also I'm thinking a pretty big dose of creativity here. And so I'm going to turn it over to our guest Laura to introduce herself today. Thank you so much Jason. It's really great to be a part of this program. I think it's so important for students to have the opportunity to understand the world of opportunities available to them. So thanks again for this opportunity. My name is Laura Rice and I currently work as a corporate scientist in the now go water division of eco lab. And my background is microbiology, which I had no idea what that was to the point. When I had to choose my major, I decided that rather than taking a big risk. I was going to take a summer school class and find out what microbiology was really all about. Absolutely became hooked on the subject matter. Got a job working in a research lab and the rest is history went on for bachelor's master's PhD. I'm so passionate about this tiny microscopic world that we can't see without a microscope. Love it. So tell us a little bit more about what you love about it because I think your last sentence there really hit the nail on the head. It is not very concrete for us day to day though. Obviously what we're all living through right now helps raise our awareness of how important this this work is. So tell us about what what makes you so excited about it. Yeah, so the work that I do now when I started my career I worked in nonprofit. And in that role I worked a couple of years trying to harness microbial activities to clean up oil pollution. And so we were looking at a lot of the oil pollutants the bacteria just couldn't eat so to speak. And so could we chemically alter those contaminants so that they could become food for the microorganisms. And so we were doing experiments and they were so exciting in the lab. But for me the challenge was they never went to the actual real world application. And so that's kind of when I transitioned into a corporate role. And you know at the time some of my friends gave me a little bit of a hard time as the environmentalist to know all of a sudden switch to corporate America. But at the same time I mean I really have a bigger impact I think than my nonprofit role because now the work that we do does translate to the field. And so by controlling microorganisms I am able to help our customers recycle water, operate more efficiently so energy use is reduced. So I feel like I'm really doing that environmental impact in a way that I had never imagined just by simply controlling microbial growth. So describe what like you're actually working on in your job right now. Yep. So Ecolab covers a lot of different businesses ranging from health care and food and beverage. And I'm in what they call the Nalco Water Division. And even within that we cover a lot of different businesses from mining to power generation. And then I work in this again really unknown world of paper science. So I work in paper research. My entire 24 year career at Nalco has focused on helping companies that make paper tissue and towel and all those Amazon boxes that show up on your doorstep. We help them make it better. And from a microbial control perspective paper making uses a lot of water. And a lot of that water comes from rivers and lakes. And if we don't control the microorganisms that come in with that water, they form a lot of slime. And they can if they grow in the system they can if that slime slops it can cause holes in the paper. And then they have to shut down the machine or it can cause ugly defects. Nobody likes a piece of paper and they pull it out to do their homework and it's got a big blabber on it. So it can just be process efficiency, which uses energy, even more water. There's odor control, so nobody likes a pizza box that smells like baby puke. And you know the Amazon boxes have to stay strong so they don't get crushed when they're stacked up in the trucks and in the warehouses. So it's pretty fascinating to and now we're seeing more food package in fiber based materials. So when you go to the grocery store, I mean, you can even see the, you know, boxed water. And those have very stringent microbial control. So there's all different kinds of aspects for why microorganisms are so important in paper making. And honestly, like I was an environmental microbiologist. And 24 years ago, I didn't know how much technology goes into paper making. And I am still, I love to go visit the paper mills and just be like all of the complicated mechanical and operational equipment and how smoothly it goes. So yeah, I mean today my brain is just is going as I'm listening to you today is actually recycling day in our neighborhood so very early this morning I rolled the recycling out and we got some deliveries this week of some some bigger cardboard boxes that I broke down to get in there and then there's all different kinds of other paper products in that recycling then right. That's at the curb today and it's making me think about that. The other thing that's popping into my head is really the office missed an opportunity here by not doing an episode on Dunder Biflin like going to the paper mill and learning the science behind it that would have been that would have been fantastic. Yeah, it's such a good point because these paper mills are just really unbelievable and the amount of materials coming in and exiting the facilities are really fascinating but your comments about recycling perfect microbiology opportunity. They create a lot of problems in board mills, because there's so much microorganisms and food for the microorganisms so it creates a really set of unique challenges, but we do like it. So that's partially where that that you shouldn't have more than 10% of the product having food waste on it is important because of that for example right when you're. It's a big part of it exactly and even it just again it's about efficiency and if you're not efficient you're using more energy you're using more water and if they have to separate more, you know kind of garbage from the recycle then it's less efficient. So when people feel bad about getting rid of that bottom of the pizza box and the garbage they shouldn't because by recycling the clean top part of the pizza box, they're keeping the whole process efficient and using less energy to do more recycling and it's really better for the earth overall. Yeah, exactly. Great. Good point. Well, I mean I'm processing myself as I'm listening to you and so with that said, tell us like what a typical day or a week whatever makes more sense looks like in your work then what do you do. Sure, the reason I've been able to do that job is because it's never the same. And with that, the caveat is, I mean there may be some weeks or kind of once where the work is very similar. But that's what that's what I find so interesting about my job and why I've been able to do it and I haven't moved on is because, you know, earlier in my career I was really more of a contributor to other people's projects. And so there I was spending more time at the lab bench and I was doing more repetitive work. But as you kind of advance in your career then you start to become, you know, more responsible for owning parts of the project and as you advance even further in your career then you own the projects. And, you know, kind of where I'm at in my role now it's really more about owning the portfolio of projects and managing it from a global perspective and so I think that's what I really love is that it's a great balance of getting in the lab and doing some lab work. I really enjoy writing and so for me it's, you know, writing scientific papers or research reports or memos to customers or people within our organization. So I like the writing aspect of it and I absolutely love getting out to our customer sites and working with our sales, marketing and business teams. So I just write it's there's so much diversity in what I do that I don't have time to get bored. I'm too busy. That's one of the themes now that you said it that we've heard across careers occupations and across our episodes thus far is people who are working even if they're working more in a research business we heard it with the head of artificial intelligence for sales force we heard it with the head of research for floral life which is the company that that does a little food packets when you buy your flowers in the grocery store and you've just said it again we heard it with Mondalees with developing snacks. Everybody said they love getting out and interfacing with their customers and they get a less so that's a really interesting thing I think for people are watching multiple episodes to start to realize. So one of the things you talked about moving through your career and as we think about people who might be watching this they could be an undergraduate student in a you know for your university or community college. Certainly very likely to be a high school student could even be a middle school student and in any of those cases they're probably going to have to do some of that like lab bench work. And I think for me it's about really engage in what you're doing right never get caught up in just the repetitive part of the work really understand why you're doing what you're doing. And ask questions. I mean, you know as somebody who can lead a team like I love when people are interested in the work that they're doing I just feel like they're more attentive if there is a mishap they're going to catch it more quickly. Exactly. And I think for me it's about really engage in what you're doing right never get caught up in just the repetitive part of the work really understand why you're doing what you're doing and ask questions. They're more attentive if there is a mishap they're going to catch it more quickly and we can have a conversation around it. So I think just you know don't get caught up in repetitive work understand not only the work that you're doing but why it's important. So again, like, especially as you're thinking about advancing in your career and interacting with customers, understanding the value of what you're delivering is so important and you have to be able to articulate that message. And if you're just doing the task, you're missing out on that opportunity. So I think for me it's you know and again, as you advance, don't be afraid to ask for more responsibility. If you feel like you've mastered it and if you haven't then you'll get some great feedback and it'd be open to feedback is the other very important point I want to make is you know feedback is I always say feedback is a gift. So you know and sometimes you might get defensive and that's normal so then maybe take a step away and come back and have the conversation but but just most people are giving you feedback with good intentions and also feel free to ask for it if you're not getting. Great, that's great advice. So when you think about again people more early stage in their career in your work, as well as in what you do day to day what are the most important skills in your in your line of work as a as a scientist as a researcher but someone who works in a big corporation as well. And that's a great point because it is really different. So I think, you know, as far as the scientist and to be a successful scientist you really have to be a good problem solver. So, you know, kind of thinking back, like, I like to play games kind of like puzzle games. And so I think that helps prepare your brain for dealing with ambiguity or like the unknown is right like if you're going to invent something, you have to be a good problem solver and you also have to be persistent. Right. There's a reason no one else has done it. It's not easy. Right. So you have to be really comfortable with the unknown. And you also have to be really persistent because if you are doing something truly new, you're going to have a lot of experiments that don't work or maybe even projects that completely fail. But it takes a lot of projects to get that one big successful project. So that's where persistence right you just have to pick yourself back up the ground, dust yourself off. And then so that's kind of the successful innovator or researcher. And then kind of how do you succeed in a large corporation? I mean, we are a very large global corporation. And so collaboration and communication is absolutely critical to, you know, my success as an individual, the success of my projects, the success of our team. Right. So so being very open in communication. Right. Like if something's not working, I'm making sure everybody knows not only that we're having some challenges or setbacks, but what my plan is to overcome that. So kind of communicating where you're at and then collaboration. I mean, the world's problems and challenges like as you see today are becoming more and more complex. Nobody can fix these things on their own or nobody can innovate these complex solutions alone. So for me, like I'm dealing with, you know, IT with our digital services teams, with our chemistry teams, I'm the microbiologist with our sales reps to understand, like, OK, I can come up with this great idea. I think you can even buy it and pay for it. So really, I mean, collaboration teamwork, problem solving and persistence, I think are really important to kind of shaping who I am and the role I work in. That's awesome. Now, one thing is, as I'm listening to you talk, it sounds very exciting and you're solving problems, very real problems that affect all of us. You mentioned at the beginning, you have a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and a PhD. And if I'm watching this at 14 years old or 16 years old, that can sound pretty overwhelming. I might be the first one in my family who will graduate from high school or consider going on to the community college or to a four year university. What is kind of the minimum level of education you need to be a working scientist and what advice would you have to help people overcome kind of that fear that's very normal when it comes to science? You and I talked about that prior to being on the recording as well as to just ongoing education like that. And I'm kind of a good case study for that, I think, because people I know now would be surprised to hear. I was a very shy, timid, little girl who lacked confidence. I never asked questions in class. If I didn't know something, I tried to figure it out because I was afraid to raise my hand in class. If I had to go back and tell myself if I could change one thing, if you don't understand something, ask for help. People want you to know it. So for me, I just always wanted to be a veterinarian and in order to be a veterinarian, I knew I had to be good at science. Unfortunately, I wasn't as outgoing as I needed to be and so I made it harder for myself because of that. If I would have asked for help, it would have been such an easier path. So I would say if you need help, just ask for it. And then as far as the degrees, so I think, you know, you just kind of they lead to different opportunities. So I guess my feeling is like if you really want to kind of lead innovation efforts, you really do should have an advanced degree and it could potentially be a master's or a PhD depending on what type of organization you work for. I think if you're at the bachelor's and master's level, I think you still have different opportunities. And I think what's been interesting is to we do a lot of professional development in our company. And I think, you know, at bachelor's levels, again, don't limit yourself, right? Don't put a barrier on what you can do because you never know what you can do or what types of opportunities are available. You never make that black and white. But I think also like at the bachelor's level, there are so many opportunities for you to move past the bench into more management. As opposed to, you know, sometimes when you are at that PhD level, you know, it may be more difficult or you may be more reluctant to move into a sales and marketing role or a team management role because you've invested so much time in that education that you really feel like you want to leverage it. But I mean, I think that's what's great about my organization is not only do we see people moving across divisions, but we've seen researchers go into our sales force. We've seen researchers go into management roles. And then we've seen researchers go into marketing. So, I mean, I think that's what's exciting is don't put limitations on yourself. If you only have a bachelor's degree, there's still so many exciting things that you can do. You know, you don't have to get the PhD. And what I would add to students who are watching this, if you're like, I don't even know if I can get a bachelor's degree, but I really like science. I really want to become a scientist and you're hearing this message that you're going to need that know that community colleges and universities have all kinds of programs to help get you through. You'll be assigned an academic advisor and and you need to say to them just like that. You need to ask questions. I want to do this. What are the resources available to help me? Because there are lots and lots of resources, institutions of all different kinds throughout Illinois and and in other states really, really are doing a good job trying to help individual students be successful. So don't be afraid to ask for help. And if you don't know where to turn, start with that academic advisor. Start with a professor of a class in the area you want to study who you really like and feel a little bit connected to take advantage of those and seek out help. Yeah, and I just like to add something that I think that is so important, like especially earlier in your career, because you lack confidence because you lack experience. And that's a totally normal feeling. And so I think getting that help getting that support. I mean, one of those individuals might turn into an awesome mentor and help you build that confidence. And that's exactly what happened in my case was just, you know, I finally had that mentor that just reached out. And in that case, I mean, she kind of helped pull me up and just said, what are you doing? Like you've got this, you know, so I think like just having that mentor and building your confidence, it gets easier and also just the experience piece. You become more confident naturally because you become the expert. So you talked right at the beginning about how your work does impact the world around us in a positive way. And that's fantastic. You've also given students some general advice and you've shared some of the things that you're really excited about in your work. Those are normally the real high notes I like to finish these conversations on, but I want to get it out there, even though I and I hope it's not as much of a downer as it as it might sound like but in every job there is work we do. We had an attorney on who said it doesn't look like it looks on TV. And so in every job there's behind the scenes work we do, even in the jobs our students know best what other for their parents are doing or older adult siblings or family members or their teachers, right? That's an example of a job where everybody thinks they know it pretty well because you go to school for 13 years, even before maybe continuing on for a post secondary degree. What are some of the hidden things in your job that either you have to do that people don't know about or that you don't like to do, but again you have to do them. They're really important parts of your job. Or maybe you don't dislike them but people generally in your work don't like them. What are some of those hidden things about your job that we should know about? So I would say in general, right, it's all part of my job and I have to do it, but there are definitely things that I find myself procrastinating on that finally I just have to put the top of my to-do list and all the exciting things I have to hold of like my carrot. I can't do those kind of fun and interesting things until I just get this house cleaning item done. So for me it really is kind of a house cleaning item. So we have a product line that we have to maintain and our products are registered and so we have to do a lot of that work and that work is a little bit more interesting. But just some of the kind of maintenance tasks just from the point of making sure that all the documents are up to date. And you know sometimes I in an innovation world don't use a lot of our routine kind of business processes. And so I feel like sometimes every time I have to go in and use one of these it's completely changed. So for me and I mean those aren't that big a deal. Like again, I just go ask for help, right? I don't do it that often. So I require to be retrained a little bit every time I go in there to either set up a new product or maybe clean up an older product. For me like that's more just the and maybe part of it is I know I can't do it on my own and just knock it out. So it's more about OK I'm going to have to coordinate with the right person and and you know get that piece done when I'm more rather like OK jump in the lab. Let's set up this experiment. So if you're procrastinating if you're procrastinating because all of us have this experience of students too. This applies to people watching this probably right now and in a way maybe even more with how we're doing school remotely at the moment. What what do you do to motivate yourself to unprocrastinate on that thing and just get it done so you can move back to the things you want to do. And so absolutely that has become my motto is done is better than perfect just do it. So not to steal another famous motto but I mean really it's all about just get it done. If somebody doesn't like it or feels like it could be better they will let you know but just get it done. And I always give myself a reward and it could be different things depending on the magnitude of the project that I'm procrastinating. Right. It could be that OK I can't start exploring that new exciting piece of research until I get that done. Or it could be as simple as you know what when I get that done hey do you want to go out for lunch with me because I just finished something. The kind of the reward is dependent on the magnitude of the project but you know treat yourself take good care of yourself. I think that's great advice and it's very similar to the strategies that I use for those kinds of things as I try and push it up on my list and then do give myself a little reward. Sometimes it's a it's a 10 minute break sometimes I'm going to go get a drink of water now few that is done and now I can move on to the stuff I want to do. So something for students to consider even as students when they're thinking about homework and prioritizing what they're going to do in what order on a regular basis. Yeah exactly video games or read a book or exactly. That's awesome. Well this has been really really insightful. I mean there's so much more we could have gone into with the science that would have probably taken us away from the career pathways. But thinking about about little microorganisms that we can't even see with our with our naked eyes and need a microscope to look at with the technology that I'm sure you're using your job. So maybe some point we'll loop back. I mean we're still very early in the series but it was really really great having you and providing some insight into the life of a working scientist. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. I really appreciate this opportunity. Thank you. Well thank you. And so everybody that's watching this if you do have ideas for occupations specific people you'd like us to interview or questions that you'd like us to be asking. You can feel free to send us share those with us on Twitter. Our Twitter account is at p20p20network all one word that's at p20network on Twitter. And we are excited we'll be publishing multiple episodes every week right now during the school closure and we look forward to bringing you many more in the future. Thanks again to Laura for being our guest today and we'll see you in our next episode.