This week’s PhDetails is with Mijke Van Der Zee! Mijke grew up in the Netherlands and when she first went to university she enrolled in International Development Studies in Wageningen, but after a year she realised that she missed biology too much and switched to a BSc in Biology. Mijke’s dissertation was a literature study of factors affecting fish assemblages on coral reefs. Before starting a Master’s, she went travelling in South East Asia on her own for 4 months, and this is where she decided she wanted to do her Master degree in the UK. Mijke ended up at Portsmouth University doing an MSc in Applied Aquatic Biology, where she studied aggressive behaviour in blue cod using a baited underwater video system. Mijke said that after graduating she struggled to find a job related to her degree, and worked as a science technician in a secondary school until she got accepted for her PhD in 2016. She now studies rapid genomic adaptation in a new introduction experiment involving guppies that were transplanted from a high predation environment to a low predation environment. You can also find Mijke on Twitter - @mvdz28.
What is your favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
Hmmm depends on the mood. I listen to a lot of The National and Other Lives when working. And The Cat Empire when I want to finish the day on a happy, bouncy note!
Favourite movie?
If we go by number of times watched: Dirty Dancing (the original!). Otherwise, Kirschblüten (Cherry blossoms) struck a chord I watched it, and I do love a generic action/government conspiracy movie…
Do you listen to podcasts?
Not really…I always intend to, but find them distracting during work because I end up just sitting and listening.
Where do you study and who is your supervisor?
I’m now at Exeter University, UK in Bonnie Fraser’s lab. We all moved here from Sussex University last year.
What year of your PhD are you in?
3rd year
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
Exeter University, for 3.5 years. The first 2 years were funded by Sussex university though, so technically Exeter is funding me for 1.5 years.
Do you have any publications?
Nope not yet.
Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?
Yes I did, at the University of Portsmouth. It was Applied Aquatic Biology. We did a lot of eco toxicology. I think my favourite part was learning about oil spills and a field trip to the oil spill response unit in Southampton. My final project was on behaviour of blue cod near food. I analysed videos from a baited video system and classified the different types of aggressive behaviour of the fish. Rather different from the genetic stuff I do now!
Do you do fieldwork?
No, my guppies came delivered frozen. My supervisor collected them a couple of years before I started.
What are the best and worst bits about your labwork?
I only did about a months, maybe 2 months of lab work. Mostly to help Josie (post doc) out with her DNA extractions. The best part is the variation, getting away from the computer screen for a couple of days. The worst bits were probably when extractions failed…guppies aren’t that big so we have limited supplies of DNA material.
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
I applied for 5 PhD’s I think. I was looking for non-academic jobs as well as PhD’s. Obviously I was looking for a project that sounded very interesting, which in my case almost always involves fish of some sort. But I also took location into account. I wasn’t really looking to move to a new country again, I either wanted to stay in the UK or go back to the Netherlands.
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
I’ve not had to do much labwork. But our lab in Sussex was so cold, all our DNA extraction kit chemicals came out of solution…so we had to walk around with the bottles under our armpits to warm them up before using. And when we got a portable heater in there, we mostly used it to dry the DNA pellets in eppendorf’s!
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Make sure the project you apply for is something you are really interested in. It’s going to be your life for the next years, so you better love it! Looking back now, I feel lucky I got this PhD and not any of the others I applied for. Three years in and I still love the project, and have learned so much about a subject I knew very little about beforehand.
How often do you meet with your supervisor?
We have a weekly lab meeting with all of us, and I have a one-on-one meeting at least once a month with Bonnie. Sometimes more if I’ve been doing a lot of writing and need some feedback.
What supervisor traits are important to you?
For me it would be that I can work independently most of the time. I like to try and figure out problems by myself as much as possible because I think that’s how you really get to understand what you’re working on. But it is also important your supervisor has/makes time for you when you need it. Our group is quite small, so Bonnie always has time for a chat if I need it.
What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?
Micromanaging. I would also find it difficult to work with someone who is not interested in our lives outside of work.
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
I study early genomic adaptation in Trinidadian guppies that were transplanted from a high predation environment to a low predation environment.
What has been your academic highlight of the last year?
It’s a tie between writing the introduction for my first chapter (such a good feeling to have something on paper finally!) and getting a talk at the ESEB conference in Turku this summer! Very excited and slightly terrified for that.
Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?
For the last 8 months we’ve been battling with demographic modelling. There were so many times we thought we were there, and then discovered another problem putting us back at the start. It’s hard to having to start again so many times…
Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?
I think that would be Josie Paris, post doc in my lab. She’s a star at networking. It seems to me there’s no one in the population genetics world she doesn’t know! She’s taught me a lot over the last year and half, about population genetics, but also about academic life in general. And she’s a great friend (as is everyone in my group really) to go for a drink with after another long day in the office! And Bonnie has the skill to make population genetics look easy, which I find inspirational as well!
Which academic idol/scientist have you met?
I briefly met Deborah Charlesworth when she visited my supervisor in Sussex. I had just bought their book ‘Elements of Evolutionary Genetics’ and was a bit in awe of her!
Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?
I would like to meet Vitor Sousa so I can thank him in person for his help with fastsimcoal.
Do you have a favourite paper?
I’ve read ‘Experimental evidence for rapid genomic adaptation to a new niche in an adaptive radiation’ by Marques et al a lot. They use similar approaches to mine, and it was one of the first papers I read that reported in more detail how they used fastsimcoal. Another paper I’ve enjoyed for that is ‘History, geography and host use shape genomewide patterns of genetic variation in the redheaded pine sawfly (Neodiprion lecontei)’ by Bagley et al
What has been your favourite conference so far – why?
Genetics society conference in Exeter last year. It was the first conference where I felt like a bit more confident talking about my research. There was a good crowd and it was nice to see some faces again that I’d met before.
What hours do you typically work?
I usually stick to “office hours” from 9 to 5:30/6. But it depends on work load. I try not to work from home too much, home is for relaxing and not thinking about work. If I have lots to do I just stay in the office longer. The advantage of bioinformatics is that I can quickly submit my jobs at home on Saturday morning, and then my work gets done for me over the weekend!
How do you avoid procrastinating?
I put on some music to not get distracted by what’s happening in the office. And if I keep procrastinating writing up parts of my PhD I talk to Bonnie about setting a deadline for it to keep me focussed.
What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?
Learning! When I started my PhD I knew next to nothing about population genetics, but it is such an incredibly interesting subject that I get motivated by just learning a bit more about it every day. And what also helps me is to completely switch off from work once I’ve left the office. It means my brain had a proper break when I get back in the next day.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
I play volleyball and go for runs to exercise. Having a set day for exercise is great because it means I leave the office on time at least 1 day a week! I also like to cook and bake, so making dinner after work is a nice way to transition from work to home. And whenever we can we take our campervan for short weekend trips around Devon and Cornwall. Very excited for our first summer season in Devon!
If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?
Make me understand all the concepts of theoretical population genetics, and see the links between them.
What would be your dream job?
I honestly don’t know. Within biology I’d love something that would take me outside a lot. I love being outdoors. But it would also be a dream if I could live from my art/other creative projects!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
No idea! Hopefully in a stable job that I enjoy, in a place that I like.
One word to sum up your future in academia:
Uncertain?
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
Get my fitness back up. Since moving to Exeter I’ve not been as active as I’d like to be. And I’ve recently picked up sewing again to keep the creative juices flowing, so I’d like to get some nice projects done this year!
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
My Mac, the HPC and R. But mostly the HPC, without that, my research would not fit within the 3.5 years I have!
Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?
I’d would like to work in a place where I can combine the genetic/bioinformatics skills I’ve gained during my PhD with something a bit more applied. Or maybe something completely different. At Sussex I was part of a couple of outreach events and I really enjoyed engaging the non-science public with science.
Do you have a favourite organism – what is it and why – is it different from your study organism(s)?
I think it’s always been fish! My dad is a fish taxonomist, so we always had fish in the pond and aquaria around the house. And when I decided to study biology I also knew I wanted to study aquatic/fish biology. Saying that, I do also love bunnies.
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?
Our department Environmental Biology has recently started EB Chats. It’s a very informal seminar session every 2 weeks where a postgraduate, a post doc and a PI each give a 10 minute talk, about whatever they want! People use it to practice conference talks, or to introduce what they are working on. My supervisor recently talked about her career choices along the way, which was also very enlightening. We also have a Population Genetics meeting with other population genetics groups in the university where we can dive more into to details of our research.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?
I have no complaints about my department or my group. I’ve only been at Exeter for a short time, but it seems nice and I really like my office (The Cave).
What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
Since diving in to the demographic modelling world I’ve come to realise that a lot of studies don’t really quantify demographic changes in populations and the effects they can have on detecting selection. It is a very complicated question, as I have experienced myself over the last year, but I think it’s worth investing more time in.
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