Dear Sister,

I wish someone had told me early on in my career that… 
…I could be in science without being a scientist. This feels like an odd thing to say to a group of scientists, but it was part of my personal journey. There are many careers that support science and can leverage your talents, if you decide that being a researcher is not right for you: policy makers, community builders and managers (check out CSCCE), environmental consultants, science writers and data journalists, to name just a few! Learn about some of these from ADSA’s Career Panels.

I think the most important decision that determined my academic life has been… 
…following my passion for supporting people who do science. After my PhD, I discovered I was just as happy supporting and managing other scientists in the lab as being one myself. The decision to leave the traditional research path and instead focus on supporting others was a pivotal moment for me.

If I had to do it all over again, I would… 
…not change anything! Of course, everyone has regrets. But every decision leads you to a different place, and if all the decisions eventually led me to this place where I am happy, then I shouldn’t change any of it.

For future academia, I wish for… 
…more collaboration and interdisciplinarity, and less competitiveness. This means academia needs to be less hierarchical and departments need to be less siloed. No longer is the scientist by herself in the lab. Science, especially now with big data, needs many different talents coming together to solve problems or make new discoveries.

Don’t you ever…
…feel that you’ve failed because you haven’t figured it all out. It’s OK to not know where you want to go next or who you want to be. Pursue what makes you happy, even if that changes over time, and you will eventually land in the right place. Not everyone has to have a dream or a passion to end up happy.