Current student, Maggie Newman, shared the following about being a Summer Intern at the Extavour Lab at Harvard University…
What did you do as an intern at this organization?
As an undergraduate research associate in the Extavour Lab, I developed a pipeline to identify novel cytoskeletal proteins in Cnidarians using bioinformatics. First, I read and analyzed primary literature on the evolution of new genes, my protein family, and the clade of interest. After applying my developed pipeline, I looked at the phylogeny of these novel proteins to understand how they might have evolved over time.
How did you find this internship?
I found this internship by cold emailing the PI, Dr. Cassandra Extavour. Once we were in contact, I began meeting with my mentor for the project.
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
I most enjoyed how passionate everyone in the lab is about science. It was truly a joy to hear each lab member discuss their area of interest!
What did you find challenging?
During this internship, I was learning how to code in Python. Learning to troubleshoot my code was at times very tedious. However, as I continued to work, I learned to have patience with the code and myself.
What advice would you offer to someone who wants to make the most of an internship like yours?
I would tell someone working in a similar lab to try and talk to as many people as possible about their projects. By doing this, you meet new people, get a sense of how scientists ask and answer questions, and learn what new things you might find interesting!
