Welcome to the Zastrow Lab

I am officially a member of the Zastrow Lab!

Since January 2018, I worked as an undergraduate researcher for Dr. Melissa Zastrow (principal investigator, PI) from the Department of Chemistry at UH. My research focuses on effects of trace metals, including zinc, manganese, and iron, on individual bacteria species in the human gut microbiota. I spent the first half of the spring semester assisting with lab equipment set-up and trouble-shooting. In the second half of the semester, I learned basic microbiology skills using E. coli such as aseptic technique, streak plating, liquid cultures inoculation, and colony counting. This summer, I will apply these skills for studying Lactobacillus plantarum, a common lactic acid bacteria.

During the semester, my schedule was limited, so my priority was to do lab work only. It was hard to keep track of my progress on the project because I observed or participated in different parts of the process each time. I spent the first week of summer research getting reacquainted with my project, meeting my new lab mates, and checking in with my PI. My project is in two parts:

1. Top-down approach by analyzing metal uptake experimentally and using bioinformatics to identify the genes responsible for metal uptake
2. Bottom-up approach by using genomic databases to define the metalloproteome and confirming it experimentally

First, I “caught” up on my reading (because you can never really “catch” up on reading the literature). Searching, organizing, and reading literature is a new skill that I am developing. My PI suggested using Mendeley to organize my references and shared some relevant articles with me to start. I realized how much more I have to learn, not only about my current area of research, but also skills such as data analysis. I aim to build my coding skills in Excel and other statistical software, to improve the speed and quality of the analysis of my results. For example, I reduced the processing time for data analysis by creating an Excel template for the results from ICP-MS and developed the protocol to use it. Making processes more efficient will allow us to spend less time doing tedious work and more time carefully dissecting the meaning of our results.

It bothers me that my notes are spread out everywhere: OneNote/OneDrive notebooks, lab notebooks, personal notebooks, and random scraps of paper. I want to consolidate all my notes, but I’m slowly accepting it as a fact of life. My PI keeps folders of her random notes, which are organized by projects, so I guess it will never end. Eventually, I will become more systematic in my note-taking, as I experiment with different techniques and find a method that works for me.

Before I asked to join my PI’s lab, I made a disclaimer that I had no microbiology skills or much knowledge in her research area. Despite this, she accepted me into her lab and personally taught and demonstrated many techniques for me. I modeled after her and she gave me constructive feedback. In addition to learning these techniques, I noticed her cautious attention to detail, careful work ethic, and methodical thinking. I inquired about the reasoning behind doing steps in a certain order or in a particular way. Most of the time, it is to prevent and minimize possible sources of error. Our experiments typically span at least a week, so making careless mistakes means delaying progress by a week or more. This also means that it takes a considerable amount of time to plan steps accordingly and space out the work because everything takes longer than expected. Through observation and inquiry, I gained a better understanding about the nature of our research and ideas to approach my own research in the future.

I learned to appreciate the small successes, both in lab and in life. It is easy to get frustrated when the task is tedious or troublesome. I prevent myself from getting too bored or frustrated by switching tasks or taking a breather outside. In our lab, we strive to be more effective or efficient as we refine our protocols. It can be tough when a protocol does not work as well as intended, but the patience and can-do attitude from my lab members encourage me to remain calm through the process. At the end of the day, I feel rewarded in learning something new every day. More importantly, I am grateful to meet and work with a supportive team and mentor.