This weeks PhDetails is with Lizzy Parker who is doing her PhD at the University of Sheffield. Lizzy started her scientific journey by doing an undergraduate degree Biology (with French) at the University of Sheffield (and University of Burgundy) and stayed at Sheffield for her MRes in Plant and Microbial Biology and a short time spent working as a technician in the plant-soil-environment group before starting her PhD. Her PhD investigates the changing metabolic pathways of mycorrhizal fungi colonising the roots of barley and hopes to identify how this may help plants survive drought. You can also find Lizzy @parkerpannell!
Well let’s start off talking about completely unscientific stuff: What is your favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?
To answer this question I had to consult my most-listened to on Youtube: turns out it’s Dolly Parton (and in particular Jolene and Islands in the stream).
Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
Probably depends on context, but I’m going to go for music that’s most likely to make me dance at a party: Destiny’s Child.
Favourite movie?
Clueless (unless the 6 hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice counts as a film).
Where do you study and who is/are your supervisor(s)?
I am based at the University of Sheffield supervised by Duncan Cameron (Sheffield), Sue Hartley (York) and Julie Gray (Sheffield).
What year of your PhD are you in?
Tricky question … I started my PhD in 2015 but I’ve had a year’s maternity leave and for the last few months I’ve been working part time so I *think* I’m coming up to finishing my second year.
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
I have 4 years full-time funding from the BBSRC White Rose Mechanistic Biology doctoral training programme.
Do you have any publications?
None so far.
Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?
I did a masters by research in the Animal and Plant Science department here at Sheffield. I looked at how the presence of a mycorrhizal fungus can alter the bacterial community around the host plant’s roots. I also investigated whether the fungus and soil bacteria can cause changes to the above-ground chemistry of the plant (so pretty similar to what I do now).
Do you do fieldwork? What is the best fieldwork you have ever done and what made it great?
I don’t have to do much fieldwork in my PhD as most of my experiments are grown in controlled glasshouses.
What are the best and worst bits about your labwork?
Breaking stuff is probably the worst bit of lab work. Although once it meant that I got taken to see the glassblower in the Chemistry department who helped us fix the equipment I’d broken. He was training some apprentices and they were making tiny glass swans to practice a technique so he showed us how to make them too. That was pretty cool. I strongly considered a career change at that point.
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
I only applied for one PhD. I hadn’t necessarily been dead set on doing a PhD but this one came up at a good time (when my technician’s contract would be ending) and the research theme followed on really well from my masters research, so I was pretty keen.
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
I needed to be able to hang up some tiny bags with water and leaves in so that only the bottom (cut) edge of the leaf would be in the water. Oh and they had to be kept in the dark. I used what was at hand: a shoebox and a stick. It is a bit beaten up but has been used in 4 separate experiments so far.
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Make sure you like the science BUT don’t overlook things like length of funding/ who is funding you. I would be in a pretty difficult situation right now if my funding had not included parental leave provision and flexibility to be able to convert to part time. Four years is a long time and you don’t know what situations might come up in that time so consider who you’ll be working with and where.
How often do you meet with your supervisors?
I normally see my main supervisor once a month for a sit-down meeting and a few other times we’ll chat in passing or I’ll drop in to ask a specific question. We tend to have more formal meetings with all my supervisors every 3 or 4 months but it’s been quite variable because I’ve not been here continuously.
What supervisor traits are important to you?
For me, positivity from my supervisors has been invaluable. I have had a lot of experimental “hurdles” to overcome (and a few personal ones as well) and I think I would have struggled if my supervisors had not been so encouraging. Supervisors are busy people, so whatever great traits they have, it’s quite useful having more than one so that you have a bit more chance of seeing someone regularly to get feedback.
What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?
I think it’s very variable depending on the student. For example, I would hate to be micro-managed and would feel very pressured which would not help me be productive. However, I know other people who would find it hard being left to their own devices (especially if you move straight from undergrad to PhD). I guess the worst supervisor trait would be inflexibility for that reason.
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
Which metabolic pathways are altered by mycorrhizal fungi colonising the roots of barley and how can that help the plant to survive drought?
What has been your academic highlight of the last year?
Finally finding some evidence of a mycorrhizal fungus in the roots of a plant that I had added the fungus to (I had done this experiment twice already without the treatment working).
Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?
Immediately after finding evidence of the fungus in the mycorrhizal roots, I found the same evidence in the roots that had NOT had the fungus added. They had been contaminated with fungus from the substrate I was using and my treatment wasn’t working at all.
Which academic idol/scientist have you met?
David Read is a bit of an idol in mycorrhizal research and is part of the same lab I work in. It’s pretty terrifying presenting mycorrhizal research with him in the audience (but I guess it’s a good baptism of fire!).
Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?
When I was in sixth form I read a book by Sean B. Carroll (“Endless forms most beautiful”) that basically made me decide to study Biology so it would be interesting to meet him (even though it’s not in my field of research).
Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?
Scott Davidson and Ingrid Robertson are my joint role models (they were doing their PhDs when I was a technician applying for my PhD so I got an insight into PhD life through them). Scott is great at networking; he showed me how to get the most out of twitter and coached me through a lot of difficulties with R. Ingrid taught me my mantra for hard times: “do what you want”. They were both pretty good inspiration for how to keep it together when things get tough.
Do you have a favourite paper?
There’s a great paper by Sandra Varga called “On the importance of details in mycorrhizal research”. I have a table from it taped above my desk to remind me how to do things properly.
What has been your favourite conference so far – why?
I have mostly attended smaller conferences so far. I really enjoyed the SCI young researchers in agri-science symposium in 2016 as there was a big diversity of research topics all relevant to food production. It was a really friendly conference.
What hours do you typically work?
At the moment I’m officially part-time which means I get 50% funding so I try very hard to only work 2-3 days per week (9am-5pm). This is pretty variable in reality though since I have the constraints of growing plants, experiments where things need to be done on specific days, picking my son up from nursery etc. Some weeks I work every day but go home at lunchtime.
How do you avoid procrastinating?
Plan carefully. When I’ve finished what I’ve planned, I go home. I try to plan in breaks - for example we have departmental coffee at a set time each morning so I try to always go to that. It means you get to see people from other labs, and it helps me structure my day better.
What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?
I get on well with the people in my lab and office, that makes me want to come to work each day. Somebody’s always got something interesting going on, even if I have something dull to do that day.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
Now that I have a toddler I spend a LOT of time in the park (which is lovely in Sheffield because we have so many to choose from). I also knit and try to grow some food in our tiny garden (though this is more difficult than I would like to admit as a plant scientist!).
If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?
An amazing, reliable and cheap automatic weighing and watering system that can be remotely controlled.
What would be your dream job?
I have no idea! Something sciencey. I really enjoy science communication and have done a lot of outreach activities, so maybe something in that area.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Again, I don’t know! I am definitely not where I thought I’d be from 5 years ago so I know a lot can change in that length of time. Hopefully I’ll have finished my PhD!!
One word to sum up your future in academia:
Vague?
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
I have to grow some sunflowers. My son has been very specific. I’d like to get an extra hour’s sleep each night but that seems like a pipedream.
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
An analytical balance.
Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?
There are lots of places I would love to work (Kew gardens, the Eden Project, a few different labs around the UK) but I don’t know how practical it will be for me to relocate in the future. I would really like to live in the Netherlands for bit.
Do you have a favourite organism – what is it and why – is it different from your study organism(s)?
Rhubarb? It’s the main thing I manage to grow with no effort and no problems! Our tiny garden is mostly rhubarb.
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?
I ran our lab meetings last year (there are 5 academics’ worth of lab members so this was a great opportunity to get to know everyone a little bit better). My PhD has two linked projects at York and Leeds so I meet up every 6 months or so with the other two students and we discuss our work and do some practical troubleshooting which is really helpful. I have also been to visit other labs that work on mycorrhizal fungi which has been super useful.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be (serious e.g. more student representation or silly e.g. meetings outside)?
We’re currently trying to organise more social events for our lab group - it’s a bit of a challenge with over 40 members!
What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
Recently, there has been a lot of work around identifying biomarkers for the mycorrhizal symbiosis. At the moment, it’s really labour intensive to check whether a plant has a functional symbiosis with the fungus, and generally means you have to dig up the plant. So a biomarker approach would really speed up work in this field. There’s been some promising papers published recently suggesting we are getting close but I don’t know how long it will be until we will have a reliable and accessible method that can be used by lots of researchers.
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