Understudies

Twice now I've played the role of adviser for new grad students. Each time has been an exciting experience, getting to know someone new but also getting to teach them the ropes. For both students I've gotten to show them environmental DNA techniques and field surveying.

My problem though is that I've held them up a bit too much at times. The first student was definitely able to pick it up quicker, but both have been slow to really push their own research agenda. In each case they've just tagged along when I did field work, which isn't bad, I'd just like them to pick up the reins for themselves. The thing is, I know I've held them up in that process to some extent, especially for my current partner.

The problem is that I've been the one to really pioneer eDNA for the entire University, so I'm the one that has had to be the teacher and show them the methods and come up with the procedures, etc. It's been a lot of fun, but eDNA isn't going to be my project, it's theirs. So I've found myself explaining my ideas and my concerns and how they should plan their study - at one point I even laid out around 9 different projects or assessments that the current student should do. Pointing them in the right direction is one thing, but straight up telling them how to do it all has deprived them of the experience to figure it out themselves.

It's a tough trick to nail down, but I think part of it is also hampered by the fact that I'm not their actual adviser. If it were my lab, I might not feel as bad about it, but as it is I may have been giving them advice or telling them to do things that our adviser doesn't actually want to do.

This all came to a head for me today when my current 'student' actually told me to join her in the field. I was excited to find she had taken the lead on it, to later hear that our adviser pushed her to do it. My solution was to try and get her thinking about what all would be needed, so that way she would have a bit more experience with planning a field outing. "What else do you need for this? Did you contact the field manager? How will you do this thing once we're out there?" I had to make sure she asked herself these questions, and it turns out there were some things she forgot to grab. It seemed like it was her first time doing so, not a problem, we all go through that learning phase. I hope it helped get her more comfortable with the process though. (I also forgot where I put something, showing her that even a more experienced individual forgets things).

All in all, this is still something I need to get better at doing - giving them space to do their own work, while providing a gentle nudge in the right direction.