This week's PhDetails #99 is with Cooper Park who is currently a 3rd year PhD student at the University of New Hampshire in "Molecular and Evolutionary Systems Biology". Right now Cooper studies the variation in rates and patterns of Horizontal Gene Transfer in different bacterial populations with Bioinformatics. Cooper did his undergrad in Microbiology at Weber State University in Utah where he studied the ability of microbial communities to precipitate carbonate in the Great Salt Lake. You can find him on twitter @therealcooppark!
Well let’s start off talking about completely unscientific stuff: What is your favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?
Pretty typical response I think, but most rock artists from the 70s. Queen, The Beatles, etc!
Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
My all time favorite is Sister Hazel. But honestly most music between the 80s and 90s is great!
Favourite movie?
ALL of the marvel movies. Especially Infinity War/Endgame.
Do you listen to podcasts?
Occasionally. Lately I’ve been really into TWiM (This Week in Microbiology), and I really enjoyed the New Hampshire Public Radio series on the history of the New Hampshire primary called “Stranglehold”. I’m becoming a bit of a political nerd.
Where do you study and who is your supervisor?
I study at the University of New Hampshire with Dr. Cheryl Andam.
What year of your PhD are you in?
I’m just about finished with my 3rd year.
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
So far I’ve been funded by my advisor, also one year I got a NASA fellowship! But starting in the Fall I’ll be getting support through the university for teaching. I can drag that out for a couple years if needed (please don’t let me need it…)
Do you have any publications?
Sure! Check em’ out:
HERE, HERE and HERE
Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?
Nope! I actually started in my current program as a Master’s student. But after a year I decided I’d rather just commit to the PhD, so I was able to transfer into the same program but as a PhD!
Do you do fieldwork?
I did! In my first year I travelled back to visit my family in Utah over the summer and brought my girlfriend with me. We went out to the Great Salt Lake and collected some soil samples, but also found a fresh pile of bison dung that my advisor insisted I bring back. So, my girlfriend has a great photo of me fighting every reflex I have not to throw up on this sample.
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
I only applied for 3, so I got incredibly lucky to find my home here. I originally wanted to do Oceanography, so I looked mainly for coastal schools. But in hindsight I did a really sloppy job of vetting schools. In fact, I came out to tour a few schools the year before I applied, but rather than meeting professors in the department I just took the undergraduate campus tour and made my decisions based on that. I’m really incredibly lucky to be where I am today given my circumstances. Fun fact: I do not even remotely study oceanography now!
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
Hmm… My laptop? It’s really become bogged down over the course of my PhD. This may have been a wake-up call to upgrade!
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Keep doing what you’ve been doing. If you have finished a Master’s, then you have already proved you have the skills to get a PhD. Show that confidence in your application and you’ll be fielding more acceptance letters than you know what to do with!
How often do you meet with your supervisor?
Pre Covid 19 – Officially biweekly. But I had multiple unannounced visits to her office.
During Covid 19 – I… haven’t yet. (We still email occasionally though)
What supervisor traits are important to you?
Constructive and informative feedback above all, especially in my writing. Corrections are difficult to learn from if I don’t know why my original draft was faulty. I know an advisor can rarely take the time to give me as much feedback as I want, but even making the effort to goes a long way with me. I’m fortunate enough to get that now!
What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?
Lack of mentorship. It sounds so broad, but if a supervisor treats a student as a staffing slot to fill, rather than an apprentice they intend to mentor, then I think the whole PhD student experience just collapses.
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
Bacteria have sex, and we need to figure out what turns them on in order to stop the spread of antibiotic resistance (and many other reasons).
What has been your academic highlight of the last year?
Definitely my first big conference presentation last summer. A crowd of maybe a few hundred people and I was one of the last presenters for the whole conference. I stressed about the talk all week, up to the very last minute. But when I got on stage I just found a rhythm and gave the best speech of my life. My public speaking confidence has exploded since that moment.
Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?
Who doesn’t haha?! My most recent one was a draft for a review paper I had spent almost 3 months writing. It was supposed to get me to through my PhD Candidacy, but the idea was just so rough and disorganized that the paper was awful. My advisor refused to send it on to my committee (for good reason!). But one huge blow to my morale later, and I have developed a new topic, a stronger paper, and have scheduled my candidacy meeting for June!
Which academic idol/scientist have you met?
Hmm, I haven’t really met him yet. But Bill Hanage (@BillHanage on twitter) has been an idol of mine for a bit both in his scientific work and his public discussions on Coronavirus. I emailed him once and he said he had read one of my papers. That was pretty cool!
Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?
Honestly, I don’t even know. Imposter Syndrome would probably keep me from handling a meeting like that well and I’d be an embarrassed mess!
Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?
One of my friends/mentors at my University, Toni Westbrook (@ToniWestbrook on Twitter), has basically set me on the career path I’m on now. I came to my PhD program with 0 programming experience and he built me into the Python-coding workhorse I am today. I’ve always been a big computer nerd, but his expertise and attitude about programming really set me up to be who I am academically today.
Do you have a favourite paper?
Is it horrible if I say no?! There are a lot of papers that I think are remarkable pieces of research, but to say I have a favorite is probably a lie. Though, there is one paper (HERE)with my favorite quote: “Bacteria don’t have sex often, but when they do it can be really good”
What has been your favourite conference so far – why?
Definitely the one where I gave my academic highlight talk.
What hours do you typically work?
I try really hard to stick to a 9-5 M-F work schedule. But like most jobs, a couple hours on the weekend, or a late night to finish a project, will sneak in. And I’ll usually make up those hours with less work the following week.
How do you avoid procrastinating?
I stick (as best I can) to a strict schedule. 50 mins of work, 10 minutes of break. I treat myself to a 1-hour lunch break most days to really get some of my laziness out of my system.
What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?
Finishing the degree haha! But really, my motivation is a bell curve. At the very start and very end of a project I’m really motivated by moving on to the “next big thing”. In the middle of a project, I just try to focus on the aspects of research I do enjoy, and the cope with the parts I don’t by listening to music/Netflix.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
A massive amount of my free time goes to gaming (I’m gaming now while I type this). Beyond that, board games and cooking with my girlfriend. Also, I loved going out to different breweries to try unique beers. Sticking to the rigid work hours helps find that balance.
If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?
More published metadata! Datasets without metadata are basically useless to me, no matter how interesting the dataset may be.
What would be your dream job?
Astrobiology with NASA. We’re probably a bit too far from a future where I’m analysing the genome of a martian bacteria or something… but hey, it’s my DREAM job!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully well established into a job working with a government agency doing Bioinformatics. After that, I’m chasing the ol’ American Dream. Nice house, maybe even started a family, the works!
One word to sum up your future in academia:
Time-limited.
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
I was really enjoying weight-lifting before Covid-19 hit. Pandemic pending, I’d really like to get back to that and hit some more PRs!
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
Basically, the entirety of the Linux Operating System. Also, Python.
Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?
NASA, CDC, DHS. Government work seems like a nice balance between helping the public and staying out of the Academic rat race.
Do you have a favourite organism?
I’ve always liked Viruses. There’s just something about their history that fascinates me. Especially now as an evolutionary microbiologist. My appreciation for their awkward place in the Tree of Life (if they even belong there) just constantly grows as I learn more about them. But
I don’t really study them right now.
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?
Honestly Twitter has been a big part of this. I started it half-seriously about a year ago during a Sci-comm course and just fell in love with the AcademicTwitter environment. I’ve met some great people, become much more knowledgeable about what a PhD is like across the globe, and just overall feel more connected to the academic world because of it.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?
Gotta go with something silly – I’ll take a new building. Ours is so old… and the heat is somehow always on in the Summer?? Also, maybe a chair I can actually adjust in my cubicle!
What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
“How does ecology drive frequency and pattern of Horizontal Gene Transfer between bacteria”, or in my own words “What do we need to do to set ‘the mood’ for bacteria?”. Bacteria have the ability to literally pass their DNA around to their neighbors and sharing that DNA can lead to huge consequences like spreading antibiotic resistance in hospitals or giving pathogens new infectious capabilities. There are a lot of details that go into each specific gene-sharing situation, but at a very broad level we have a pretty poor understanding of what drives bacteria to do this (because not all will). Figuring out the environmental conditions that may promote/limit the exchange of DNA can have huge implications for how we treat diseases, and how we can abuse this gene-sharing for our own benefits.
I think LOTS of people are trying to address this problem, but it’s a difficult question to answer. For a long time, we literally did not have the computational power to properly answer it. Even now we’re just barely developing the techniques and software necessary to even try. But, with the amount of public data that already exists, I think we’re going to see a huge boom in papers dealing with this problem very soon (hopefully including some of my own!).
Well let’s start off talking about completely unscientific stuff: What is your favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?Pretty typical response I think, but most rock artists from the 70s. Queen, The Beatles, etc!
Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
My all time favorite is Sister Hazel. But honestly most music between the 80s and 90s is great!
Favourite movie?
ALL of the marvel movies. Especially Infinity War/Endgame.
Do you listen to podcasts?
Occasionally. Lately I’ve been really into TWiM (This Week in Microbiology), and I really enjoyed the New Hampshire Public Radio series on the history of the New Hampshire primary called “Stranglehold”. I’m becoming a bit of a political nerd.
Where do you study and who is your supervisor?
I study at the University of New Hampshire with Dr. Cheryl Andam.
What year of your PhD are you in?
I’m just about finished with my 3rd year.
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
So far I’ve been funded by my advisor, also one year I got a NASA fellowship! But starting in the Fall I’ll be getting support through the university for teaching. I can drag that out for a couple years if needed (please don’t let me need it…)
Do you have any publications?
Sure! Check em’ out:
HERE, HERE and HERE
Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?
Nope! I actually started in my current program as a Master’s student. But after a year I decided I’d rather just commit to the PhD, so I was able to transfer into the same program but as a PhD!
Do you do fieldwork?
I did! In my first year I travelled back to visit my family in Utah over the summer and brought my girlfriend with me. We went out to the Great Salt Lake and collected some soil samples, but also found a fresh pile of bison dung that my advisor insisted I bring back. So, my girlfriend has a great photo of me fighting every reflex I have not to throw up on this sample.
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
I only applied for 3, so I got incredibly lucky to find my home here. I originally wanted to do Oceanography, so I looked mainly for coastal schools. But in hindsight I did a really sloppy job of vetting schools. In fact, I came out to tour a few schools the year before I applied, but rather than meeting professors in the department I just took the undergraduate campus tour and made my decisions based on that. I’m really incredibly lucky to be where I am today given my circumstances. Fun fact: I do not even remotely study oceanography now!
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
Hmm… My laptop? It’s really become bogged down over the course of my PhD. This may have been a wake-up call to upgrade!
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Keep doing what you’ve been doing. If you have finished a Master’s, then you have already proved you have the skills to get a PhD. Show that confidence in your application and you’ll be fielding more acceptance letters than you know what to do with!
How often do you meet with your supervisor?
Pre Covid 19 – Officially biweekly. But I had multiple unannounced visits to her office.
During Covid 19 – I… haven’t yet. (We still email occasionally though)
What supervisor traits are important to you?
Constructive and informative feedback above all, especially in my writing. Corrections are difficult to learn from if I don’t know why my original draft was faulty. I know an advisor can rarely take the time to give me as much feedback as I want, but even making the effort to goes a long way with me. I’m fortunate enough to get that now!
What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?
Lack of mentorship. It sounds so broad, but if a supervisor treats a student as a staffing slot to fill, rather than an apprentice they intend to mentor, then I think the whole PhD student experience just collapses.
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
Bacteria have sex, and we need to figure out what turns them on in order to stop the spread of antibiotic resistance (and many other reasons).
What has been your academic highlight of the last year?Definitely my first big conference presentation last summer. A crowd of maybe a few hundred people and I was one of the last presenters for the whole conference. I stressed about the talk all week, up to the very last minute. But when I got on stage I just found a rhythm and gave the best speech of my life. My public speaking confidence has exploded since that moment.
Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?
Who doesn’t haha?! My most recent one was a draft for a review paper I had spent almost 3 months writing. It was supposed to get me to through my PhD Candidacy, but the idea was just so rough and disorganized that the paper was awful. My advisor refused to send it on to my committee (for good reason!). But one huge blow to my morale later, and I have developed a new topic, a stronger paper, and have scheduled my candidacy meeting for June!
Which academic idol/scientist have you met?
Hmm, I haven’t really met him yet. But Bill Hanage (@BillHanage on twitter) has been an idol of mine for a bit both in his scientific work and his public discussions on Coronavirus. I emailed him once and he said he had read one of my papers. That was pretty cool!
Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?
Honestly, I don’t even know. Imposter Syndrome would probably keep me from handling a meeting like that well and I’d be an embarrassed mess!
Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?
One of my friends/mentors at my University, Toni Westbrook (@ToniWestbrook on Twitter), has basically set me on the career path I’m on now. I came to my PhD program with 0 programming experience and he built me into the Python-coding workhorse I am today. I’ve always been a big computer nerd, but his expertise and attitude about programming really set me up to be who I am academically today.
Do you have a favourite paper?
Is it horrible if I say no?! There are a lot of papers that I think are remarkable pieces of research, but to say I have a favorite is probably a lie. Though, there is one paper (HERE)with my favorite quote: “Bacteria don’t have sex often, but when they do it can be really good”
What has been your favourite conference so far – why?
Definitely the one where I gave my academic highlight talk.
What hours do you typically work?
I try really hard to stick to a 9-5 M-F work schedule. But like most jobs, a couple hours on the weekend, or a late night to finish a project, will sneak in. And I’ll usually make up those hours with less work the following week.
How do you avoid procrastinating?
I stick (as best I can) to a strict schedule. 50 mins of work, 10 minutes of break. I treat myself to a 1-hour lunch break most days to really get some of my laziness out of my system.
What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?
Finishing the degree haha! But really, my motivation is a bell curve. At the very start and very end of a project I’m really motivated by moving on to the “next big thing”. In the middle of a project, I just try to focus on the aspects of research I do enjoy, and the cope with the parts I don’t by listening to music/Netflix.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
A massive amount of my free time goes to gaming (I’m gaming now while I type this). Beyond that, board games and cooking with my girlfriend. Also, I loved going out to different breweries to try unique beers. Sticking to the rigid work hours helps find that balance.
If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?
More published metadata! Datasets without metadata are basically useless to me, no matter how interesting the dataset may be.
What would be your dream job?
Astrobiology with NASA. We’re probably a bit too far from a future where I’m analysing the genome of a martian bacteria or something… but hey, it’s my DREAM job!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully well established into a job working with a government agency doing Bioinformatics. After that, I’m chasing the ol’ American Dream. Nice house, maybe even started a family, the works!
One word to sum up your future in academia:
Time-limited.
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
I was really enjoying weight-lifting before Covid-19 hit. Pandemic pending, I’d really like to get back to that and hit some more PRs!
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
Basically, the entirety of the Linux Operating System. Also, Python.
Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?
NASA, CDC, DHS. Government work seems like a nice balance between helping the public and staying out of the Academic rat race.
Do you have a favourite organism?
I’ve always liked Viruses. There’s just something about their history that fascinates me. Especially now as an evolutionary microbiologist. My appreciation for their awkward place in the Tree of Life (if they even belong there) just constantly grows as I learn more about them. But
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?
Honestly Twitter has been a big part of this. I started it half-seriously about a year ago during a Sci-comm course and just fell in love with the AcademicTwitter environment. I’ve met some great people, become much more knowledgeable about what a PhD is like across the globe, and just overall feel more connected to the academic world because of it.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?
Gotta go with something silly – I’ll take a new building. Ours is so old… and the heat is somehow always on in the Summer?? Also, maybe a chair I can actually adjust in my cubicle!
What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
“How does ecology drive frequency and pattern of Horizontal Gene Transfer between bacteria”, or in my own words “What do we need to do to set ‘the mood’ for bacteria?”. Bacteria have the ability to literally pass their DNA around to their neighbors and sharing that DNA can lead to huge consequences like spreading antibiotic resistance in hospitals or giving pathogens new infectious capabilities. There are a lot of details that go into each specific gene-sharing situation, but at a very broad level we have a pretty poor understanding of what drives bacteria to do this (because not all will). Figuring out the environmental conditions that may promote/limit the exchange of DNA can have huge implications for how we treat diseases, and how we can abuse this gene-sharing for our own benefits.
I think LOTS of people are trying to address this problem, but it’s a difficult question to answer. For a long time, we literally did not have the computational power to properly answer it. Even now we’re just barely developing the techniques and software necessary to even try. But, with the amount of public data that already exists, I think we’re going to see a huge boom in papers dealing with this problem very soon (hopefully including some of my own!).
Very readable for a non scientist and enjoyable. Great interview on both sides! Thanks for tweeking my brain without pain.
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