Welcome back to another Scientist Spotlight everyone! Today it is my pleasure to introduce to you Tyler Hoard! He is a 3rd year PhD candidate at the University of Michigan studying molecular biology and how embryonic development occurs in animals. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from my alma mater, Murray State University, where he had the absolute pleasure, I’m sure, of being my TA for botany. Tyler is a fantastic guy and an equally fantastic scientist (even if he is a fan of that team up north. Go Bucks!). Now grab a nice mug of something warm, settle in, and learn all about Tyler’s journey to becoming a scientist.
What made you want to become a scientist?
I started wanting to become a scientist while taking my botany class as an undergraduate. My professor always got very excited while she was talking about her research. Since it seemed like she enjoyed what she did so much, I decided to give it a try by doing undergraduate research in her lab. After that, I was hooked and knew that I wanted to become a scientist.
When did you know you wanted to become a scientist?
I didn’t know that I wanted to be a scientist until I was in my early 20s. I was originally planning on going to medical school after I graduated with my Bachelors degree. As a junior, I made an impulse decision to start doing undergraduate research and knew that a career in science was for me. Until then, I had never even thought about the possibility of becoming a scientist. As I was learning about what it means to do research, I was also shadowing physicians and interviewing for medical schools. The excitement that I felt while shadowing and interviewing for medical school paled in comparison to how much I enjoyed research, so the choice for me to become a scientist was very easy from that point. I often think about how lucky I was to have discovered research before making a decision to go into a career that was definitely not right for me.
What did you do to become a scientist?
When I decided to go into science, I knew that I would like to one day have my own lab, which would require me to get a PhD. While not required in my field, I decided that it would be best for me to get a Masters degree before earning a PhD since my research experience was somewhat limited at that point. I stayed at my undergraduate institution, Murray State University, to earn my Masters degree. During this process, I received outstanding training in how to be a successful scientist. After being awarded my Masters degree, I was fortunate to have offers to attend several large research institutions to earn my PhD. I decided on the University of Michigan, where I am currently a third-year PhD student. The single most effective component in my training so far has been my research mentors. My mentors for my Masters degree and PhD have both been outstanding scientists that have taught me countless lessons about being an effective researcher. After earning my PhD, I will go on to do a postdoctoral internship, which will help me hone my research skills even more before someday going on to hopefully have my own lab!
What does your typical day look like?
Recently my days have been very inconsistent, but I will describe my typical day before COVID. As a PhD student, the vast majority of what I do is lab-based research. It’s worth noting that another great characteristic of my research mentors is that they have given me a lot of freedom to make my own schedule as long as I’m getting work done. Typically, I come in lopto lab between 9 and 10 in the morning. I then spend most of the day performing experiments with a few breaks throughout for coffee and to answer emails. I am also lucky to be in a lab with several other awesome graduate students, so we are talking to each other throughout the day while we work about everything from experiments to our favorite reality shows. Some days are more intensive than others. I usually spend 6-10 hours in lab daily, depending on the types of experiments that I’m doing. I have some recurring meetings throughout the week such as meeting with my research mentor or attending group meetings with members of multiple labs. Finally, I usually try to attend a few research talks throughout the week. The University of Michigan is always inviting well-known speakers from other institutions to give talks here, and it can be very exciting to hear about what other people are doing!
What is your favorite thing about being a scientist?
I have two favorite things about being a scientist. First, I truly enjoy discovering new things and knowing that they could someday be applied to making someone’s life better. Second, there is a lot of freedom that comes with being a scientist. I don’t have to wear a uniform, I don’t have a specific schedule that I have to adhere to, and I even have a large amount of freedom with where I take my own research project. Very few jobs offer the freedom that comes with being a scientist.
What is your least favorite thing about being a scientist?
I often feel like there isn’t enough time to do all of the experiments I want to do.
What is your favorite random science fact?
My favorite random science fact is that birds are the evolutionary descedents of dinosaurs. I’ve loved dinosaurs since I was a child. Also, I now really enjoy learning about evolutionary biology. I feel like this fact brings those two things together really nicely. Plus, it’s just generally fascinating.
How did you decide what area of science to specialize in?
Deciding the specific area of science that I wanted to go in to took some time. My undergraduate research involved studying evolution in plants. I’ve always thought plants were really interesting and considered continuing to study molecular plant biology. (I still think plants are really cool.) However, I had also really enjoyed my classes on genetics and cell biology. I decided to study how genes are turned off and on in animals for my Masters degree research and enjoyed it a lot. While I was working on my Masters degree, I also became interested in the signals that influence the process of embryonic development. That is how I arrived at what it is that I study now- the molecular biology of how embryonic development of animals takes place.
If you weren’t a scientist, what do you think you would be doing for a living?
I’ve always been fascinated by flight. I think it is possible that I could have been an airplane or helicopter pilot.
What area would you NEVER want to study?
Art! I enjoy looking at art and learning about art history, but I don’t have an artistic bone in my body. I think that would make studying art pretty difficult.
What is your favorite animal?
My favorite animals are elephants. I think they look very majestic, and I find their high intelligence really interesting.
What do you like to do when you’re not being a scientist?
Before 2020, I enjoyed going to concerts. I’m excited for a time when they can safely happen again! I also really enjoy hiking, taking care of my house plants, and playing trivia.
What is your favorite memory from the field/doing research?
One of my favorite memories is from a time that I was going to a research conference with my research mentor and another graduate student in our lab. We had to drive for a couple hours to get to the airport and kept getting slowed down by everything from tractors on the road to wrecks and rush hour traffic. When we finally got to the airport, we were very close to missing our flight. We had to use valet parking in order to have any chance of making our flight, and we were the very last people on the plane. But somehow we made it!
Thank you for tagging along and learning about another pathway to becoming a scientist! Also, we have to give a big thank you to Tyler for participating and sharing his story with us! Did anything surprise you about his journey? I believe when he is talking about when he knew he wanted to be a scientist that he was talking about Dr. Dayle Saar. She also happened to be my academic advisor for the majority of my undergraduate career and one of the BEST professors I ever had the privilege of learning from. She was so passionate, kind, and did everything in her power to make sure her students succeeded. Dr. Saar is one of the reasons I didn’t give up on my own dreams of being a scientist when faced with discrimination in STEM. This just goes to show that one good professor can impact many different lives. Do you have anyone like that in your life? Let me know below and I will see you all back here for Finn Friday!
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