Estelle Hrabak is an associate professor in the department of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences. Below is our correspondence with Dr. Hrabak about her own research and her mentoring experiences with undergraduate students.
Inquiry: What is your research focus? Did your undergraduate studies or an important mentor influence your research trajectory? What interests you most about it?
I am a plant biologist and study the plant Arabidopsis thaliana or mouse-eared cress, the first plant to have its genome sequenced. I have always been interested in learning about the ways that cells transmit information and regulate their intracellular communications. Over the years, I have studied several enzymes that are involved in modulating cell signaling processes: protein kinases (enzymes that add phosphate groups to proteins), protein phosphatases (enzymes that reverse the action of kinases), and protein S-acyl transferases (enzymes that add fatty acids to proteins).
Several mentors influenced my development as a scientist, but I’ll only mention two of them here. While an undergraduate at Michigan State University (MSU), I worked for almost four years in a mycology lab with Professor Edward Cantino. Even though I had almost no research experience, he took a chance on me. I was the only undergrad in his lab, which was a little intimidating at first, but others in the lab did a great job teaching me everything that I needed to know, including the basics of experimental design, analysis, and of course the techniques themselves. After graduation, I spent seven years as a research technician in the Microbiology Department at MSU, primarily in the lab of Dr. Frank Dazzo. As a technician, my job was basically to perform experiments described in Dr. Dazzo’s grant proposals but, if I had extra time, I could try out some of my own ideas. One of those side projects turned into a first author paper, which was very exciting for me. Dr. Dazzo also paid for me to attend research conferences (both in the US and abroad) to present our work. The confidence that he showed in me encouraged me to think about completing a Ph.D. and having my own lab someday.
Inquiry: What is the purpose of a mentoring relationship? What should the student and you gain from it?
One of my goals in mentoring undergraduates is to help them get to the point where they know enough about our system that we can discuss the science and exchange ideas and get away from a standard student/teacher relationship. I hope that the students become excited about the science and how their own research fits into the bigger picture. We both gain something important from our interactions; the student becomes more confident in their abilities as a researcher and I often get new ideas from questions they ask or from an unexpected experimental result.
Another goal of mine is to be a source of support for students as they consider their next steps after college and to be available to serve as a reference for their applications. Many intangible skills are gained by conducting research that are beneficial even if the student is not planning on a research career, so part of my role is to help them see how their lab experience can be applied to other situations. Undergraduates from my lab have gone to professional schools (medical, veterinary, physician assistant), graduate schools, or directly into the workforce, and it is fulfilling for me to help them take that next step no matter what they choose to do after graduation.
Inquiry: Please describe one or two memorable mentoring experiences or mentees.
This is a tough question to answer as I have mentored more than 80 undergraduates during my time at UNH and it is impossible to choose just one or two students to talk about. One aspect of mentoring that I enjoy is helping students turn their results into an oral or poster presentation for the UNH Undergraduate Research Conference or another conference. The challenge is to figure out how to effectively communicate their results and that often requires taking a step back and thinking about their research in a broader context. Communicating results is a critical part of the research process; it is important to learn to create understandable figures or tables for a presentation and to be able to explain your results in both layman’s terms and scientific terms. I like guiding students through that process, as well as collaborating on design, layout, and color scheme to create an attractive final product. I am always so proud when I watch my mentees present their poster or talk as I reflect on how much they have accomplished in a relatively short time.
Inquiry: Please describe any difficulties or problems you have had in mentoring undergraduates.
On rare occasions, a student finds that wet lab research is not a good fit for them. If I notice that the student seems less engaged than before, I have a conversation to find out if there is a problem. Sometimes it’s a personal issue. Sometimes it’s time management or taking on too many commitments to handle. Sometimes they find that research itself is more challenging than they expected. Sometimes a student discovers that they are more interested in a different type of research. This is often an unsettling time for the student, and they may be reluctant to talk to me about their feelings, fearing that I will be upset or disappointed in them. A small number of students have simply ghosted me, which is not the best solution because now they’ve burned a bridge that might come in handy in the future. For most students in this situation, we discuss the situation and part amicably, which often enables me to continue to mentor them in other ways if that is helpful to them.
Inquiry: What advice or tips would you give a faculty member new to undergraduate mentoring and/or for undergraduates seeking a mentor?
For faculty new to mentoring, don’t choose undergraduates based solely on their grades. I have had luck selecting students who have already demonstrated that they can maintain their grades while being involved in one or two extracurricular activities (e.g., undergrad TA or officer in a student organization). Next, give yourself time to find the mentoring style that works well with your personality. Finally, realize that mentoring is time-consuming but, for me, the rewards are absolutely worth it.
For undergraduates seeking a mentor, DON’T be worried if you don’t have previous lab experience. Most faculty don’t expect students to have previous training and often prefer a “blank slate” so that they can teach you to do things in the way that they prefer in their lab. DO learn a little about the faculty member’s research from their website before you reach out in person or by email. If you get an interview for a research position, DO ask questions about the research and DON’T be afraid to say that you don’t understand something or would like information repeated; this is a desirable quality in a lab worker. If you decide that research isn’t for you (which happens) or want to change labs, DON’T ghost your mentor; instead, have a conversation with them about the change in your interests.
Inquiry: Please feel free to add anything else you would like to share with Inquiry’s audience.
When I was looking for faculty positions, I wanted a job at a university that valued undergraduate research so that I could pay forward the wonderful experiences that I had early in my career. UNH has strong infrastructure (Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research, Undergraduate Research Conferences) to support students and faculty who want to do research together. UNH turned out to be a great fit for me!
