Mentoring Philosophy
Students are the life-blood of a vibrant scientific laboratory. Incoming students bring novel ideas, perspectives and energy to the group, whereas more established students help to put those ideas to the test through experimental design, analysis and interpretation. I have benefited from working with engaged, dedicated mentors at every step of my education, and am committed to training students at all levels of experience to develop their skills as scientists, scholars and critical thinkers. My one, over-arching goal for all of my students (undergraduate advisees to postdocs) is to help them reach their potential.
My mentoring experience includes bilingual (Spanish-English) tutoring and peer counseling, training workshops in behavioral bioassays, field research and plant volatile analysis, undergraduate summer research opportunities and honors projects, co-advising of graduate students from other institutions, and training my own honors undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs. I also have mentored junior faculty colleagues and researchers at Cornell, at other US institutions and across the world.
I strive to build a structured lab environment which places a premium on the excitement of discovery, equitable division of lab responsibilities, mutual respect and open communication.
Students are the life-blood of a vibrant scientific laboratory. Incoming students bring novel ideas, perspectives and energy to the group, whereas more established students help to put those ideas to the test through experimental design, analysis and interpretation. I have benefited from working with engaged, dedicated mentors at every step of my education, and am committed to training students at all levels of experience to develop their skills as scientists, scholars and critical thinkers. My one, over-arching goal for all of my students (undergraduate advisees to postdocs) is to help them reach their potential.
My mentoring experience includes bilingual (Spanish-English) tutoring and peer counseling, training workshops in behavioral bioassays, field research and plant volatile analysis, undergraduate summer research opportunities and honors projects, co-advising of graduate students from other institutions, and training my own honors undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs. I also have mentored junior faculty colleagues and researchers at Cornell, at other US institutions and across the world.
I strive to build a structured lab environment which places a premium on the excitement of discovery, equitable division of lab responsibilities, mutual respect and open communication.
Postdoctoral Fellows
I consider postdocs to be scientifically mature colleagues with whom I hope to develop novel ideas, questions or model systems. Postdocs must be responsible for organizing their time and research priorities, for aggressively pursuing independent funding opportunities, and for showing leadership in lab activities, including mentoring younger students. It is my charge to guide the final stages of a postdoc's maturation, from teaching them new methods to instructing them in grantsmanship, project management, peer review, strategies for publication and curriculum design, interview preparation - in short, how to land (and keep) a job.
[Right, smelling Magnolia grandiflora in stereo with Boris Schlumpberger, an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow, 2002]
I consider postdocs to be scientifically mature colleagues with whom I hope to develop novel ideas, questions or model systems. Postdocs must be responsible for organizing their time and research priorities, for aggressively pursuing independent funding opportunities, and for showing leadership in lab activities, including mentoring younger students. It is my charge to guide the final stages of a postdoc's maturation, from teaching them new methods to instructing them in grantsmanship, project management, peer review, strategies for publication and curriculum design, interview preparation - in short, how to land (and keep) a job.
[Right, smelling Magnolia grandiflora in stereo with Boris Schlumpberger, an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow, 2002]
Foreign Applicants
It has been deeply rewarding for me to train postdocs and graduate students from other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland. Cultural exchange is one of the great perks of a life in science, and I have been treated with generosity, warmth and tolerance as a guest around the world. I relish the opportunity to repay such kindness as a cultural ambassador for my own country, and have encouraged my foreign guests to take advantage of their opportunities to most fully experience the USA while working here.
[Above (L to R), Geoff Broadhead with lab mates Sol Balbuena (Argentina), Callum Kingwell (Canada) and Ajinkya Dahake (India), Halloween 2017]
It has been deeply rewarding for me to train postdocs and graduate students from other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland. Cultural exchange is one of the great perks of a life in science, and I have been treated with generosity, warmth and tolerance as a guest around the world. I relish the opportunity to repay such kindness as a cultural ambassador for my own country, and have encouraged my foreign guests to take advantage of their opportunities to most fully experience the USA while working here.
[Above (L to R), Geoff Broadhead with lab mates Sol Balbuena (Argentina), Callum Kingwell (Canada) and Ajinkya Dahake (India), Halloween 2017]
However, the post 9/11 world has raised formidable obstacles to the free exchange of peoples and ideas; foreign applicants are urged to consider the following suggestions:
- Study the most updated visa/exchange relationships between your country and the USA. Initiate all paperwork well in advance of your anticipated dates of travel.
- Be prepared to demonstrate financial independence, life insurance and other documents that will ensure fair and efficient treatment by customs and immigration officials.
- Be patient with bureaucratic problems. For example, communication between the Social Security Administration and the Homeland Security Department has been problematic.
- Take steps to improve your written and spoken English before you arrive. Many Americans still speak only English, often quickly and with regional accents, and may not empathize with the special challenges of learning a second language. Written and spoken fluency will enhance your chances for a successful stay.
- Acquire an international driver's license before you arrive. Although public transportation is fully encouraged, it is not a practical option for field work in most rural parts of the USA.
Graduate Students
Cornell graduate study is traditionally organized around GRADUATE FIELDS, rather than departments. This speaks to Cornell's strong collaborative tradition in the life sciences, and the fact that the biological sciences are spread across several departments. My training and interests extend beyond Neurobiology and Behavior (NBB), as I am currently a member of the Entomology, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and Plant Biology graduate fields, in which I serve on several graduate student committees. This can be confusing, because my academic appointment is in NBB, thus my name will not appear on the departmental faculty listings of these other units. However, current rules make it unlikely that I will serve as lead thesis adviser outside of the NBB graduate field, due to the demand that individual professors personally guarantee full funding for any incoming student outside of their primary appointment. Thus, prospective applicants for my lab are encouraged to apply to the NBB graduate program.
I have three primary expectations for graduate students:
Cornell graduate study is traditionally organized around GRADUATE FIELDS, rather than departments. This speaks to Cornell's strong collaborative tradition in the life sciences, and the fact that the biological sciences are spread across several departments. My training and interests extend beyond Neurobiology and Behavior (NBB), as I am currently a member of the Entomology, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and Plant Biology graduate fields, in which I serve on several graduate student committees. This can be confusing, because my academic appointment is in NBB, thus my name will not appear on the departmental faculty listings of these other units. However, current rules make it unlikely that I will serve as lead thesis adviser outside of the NBB graduate field, due to the demand that individual professors personally guarantee full funding for any incoming student outside of their primary appointment. Thus, prospective applicants for my lab are encouraged to apply to the NBB graduate program.
I have three primary expectations for graduate students:
- That they display curiosity and respect for the natural world, and allow it to inspire and direct their research initiatives
- That they take responsibility for generating and developing their research programs and take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them.
- That they treat those around them with sensitivity and respect, especially in cases where ethnic, cultural or philosophical differences may exist.
I have developed strong collaborative relationships around the world, and my students often visit other labs or attend short courses (e.g. Sensory Ecology in Lund, Sweden) to learn complementary approaches or techniques, or to participate in field course of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). I also encourage my students to attend small, important meetings such as ESITO, Gordon Research Conferences and other symposia, as well as annual meetings associated with specific societies, from the Ecological, Entomological and Botanical Societies of America to more thematically focused symposia at ACHEMS, ISOT, ISBE, SICB and ISCE (more acronyms!). It is very important, especially post-pandemic, for students to present their work at meetings and to engage with members of their respective fields.
[Above, former NBB doctoral student Joaquin Goyret sniffs a scent sample during the "Sensory Ecology" course, Lund Sweden, Oct. 2004]
[Above, former NBB doctoral student Joaquin Goyret sniffs a scent sample during the "Sensory Ecology" course, Lund Sweden, Oct. 2004]
Undergraduate Students
I have a long tradition of mentoring undergraduate research in my lab, owing to my own formative research experiences as an undergraduate at Yale and a research technician at Stanford, and the enjoyment I get from helping young students to experience scientific discovery. I typically welcome 1-3 undergraduates to my lab each year, often beginning with federal work-study (mostly care of insects and plants, but often leading to independent projects) or volunteer work (usually shadowing one of my graduate students or postdocs). When students show initiative and dedication, they might develop projects of their own through independent study (e.g. BioG 2990 & BioG 4990, honors research or an REU position supported by one of my grants).
I have a long tradition of mentoring undergraduate research in my lab, owing to my own formative research experiences as an undergraduate at Yale and a research technician at Stanford, and the enjoyment I get from helping young students to experience scientific discovery. I typically welcome 1-3 undergraduates to my lab each year, often beginning with federal work-study (mostly care of insects and plants, but often leading to independent projects) or volunteer work (usually shadowing one of my graduate students or postdocs). When students show initiative and dedication, they might develop projects of their own through independent study (e.g. BioG 2990 & BioG 4990, honors research or an REU position supported by one of my grants).
Research training for our undergraduates often takes the form of a triadic mentoring relationship, in which the students work several days each week with a PhD student or postdoc and meet weekly with me. Thus, I am able to train (and observe) my senior lab members as junior mentors, while providing "broader strokes" guidance as the PI. A foundational experience for undergraduates and summer REU students in my lab is to lead "white board" lab meeting exercises, in which they outline their work in front of the entire group and field questions, suggestions and constructive criticism. This, along with "big reveal" sessions in which double-blind data analyses are "unblinded", are the key learning experiences for my students.
[Right, postdoc Martin von Arx and undergraduate Kayleigh Sullivan worked as a team in 2012, leading to a publication in the Journal of Insect Physiology]
[Right, postdoc Martin von Arx and undergraduate Kayleigh Sullivan worked as a team in 2012, leading to a publication in the Journal of Insect Physiology]
My lab is NOT a good place to "check off" a nominal research experience for that med school application: I want to train students as junior scientists. I do not hand students "safe" projects that I know will work out, nor do I let students flail without guidance. We use an interesting paper or lecture as a springboard to develop a research theme, then work together to design experiments, learn the necessary analytical tools (GC-MS, software, etc.) and set up a timeline by which the student can remain productive in the lab while maintaining their academic schedule. In the end, though, students are responsible for their own research projects, and must understand that our study organisms do not take holidays or weekends, and must be cared for appropriately.
Finally, it is important for students to experience all stages of research from experimental design and data collection/analysis to communication of their results to their peers and the public. My students typically participate in outreach activities such as the Entomology Department's "Insectapalooza" weekend, meet with school children or National Park visitors while working in the field, and present their findings as posters or short talks in departmental end-of-year honors symposia, the campus-wide CURB symposium, and sometimes at regional or international conferences (e.g. SICB).
[Above, Brian Worthington (L) and Noah Kaminsky (R) present their poster at the 2013 CURB conference]
[Above, Brian Worthington (L) and Noah Kaminsky (R) present their poster at the 2013 CURB conference]