Interview with a TAG staff member - #3

It's time for our third and final interview with one of the TAG staff members. This time, we are learning from Laura Park what it's like to be involved with the project.

What are you taking in school? What year are you entering?

I am going into the last (4th) year of my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, and my program consists of a Psychology and Human Biology Double major with a Physiology minor.

What made you apply to be a research assistant for Spit for Science?

First of all, who doesn’t want to be a part of a team called Spit for Science? More importantly, as a science student, I have always had interest in scientific research, learning about it at school. This research assistant position is an excellent opportunity for a student like me to actually be a part of the real research process and work with other students from different universities who have similar interests.

What is your favourite part of the job?

I love seeing the different reactions from children and parents when we ask for their spit, but my favourite aspect of the job may be the fact that I get the opportunity to fulfill children’s curiosity in science, especially the topic of genes. We get to meet all sorts of personalities; shy kids who would turn around to spit so we won’t be able to see them, or some who are able to fill up the test tube with saliva in one shot. All of this combined with the ethnic diversity of visitors coming to the Ontario Science Centre everyday makes it a fascinating work environment.

Why are you interested in science?

I have always been interested in science because it explains the world around us. Everything we do in a day involves science; what we eat and how our body regulates it, how we cook our food, how we learn at school, how cars work, how the sun rises…..it’s endless. It’s fascinating because science explains all the mechanics behind what we take for granted in our everyday lives. Also, science is interesting because it is such a dynamic field. It is never static; there are always new scientific findings to explore.

What surprising thing have you learned about yourself so far this summer, or what new skill have you learned this summer?

I have always been afraid of giving speeches or presentations in front of a large group of people. However, by giving hot spot presentations about genes and the TAG project at the Ontario Science Centre, I have been able to overcome my stage fear. Also, not having any younger siblings, I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to interact with young children. I was surprised and excited to see my energy and enthusiasm, combined with that of other TAG team members contributing to the project - attracting and recruiting children and adolescents, helping them play the computer game, and encouraging them to salivate in all sorts of ways particularly through vivid descriptions of their favourite food!

Exciting news - over 6000 participants!

We are happy to report that we have had over 6000 kids and teens "Spit for Science!" As always, a big thank you to everyone who has participated so far.

Stay tuned for a first look at the data...

Our database manager and the investigators have been busy looking at the survey data collected from participants during the early stages of the study. Check back in the upcoming week or so for a first look at some of the findings!

Interview with a TAG staff member - #2

As mentioned in an earlier blog posting, we asked several staff members about their experiences working on the Spit for Science project, so that blog readers can learn more about what it's like to be involved in research and science. Our second interview is with Kayla Hamel.

What are you taking in school? What year are you entering?

I am going into 3rd year at McGill University and I'm studying psychology.

What made you apply to be a research assistant for Spit for Science?

I decided to apply for a research assistant position for Spit for Science because I wanted research experience in my field of interest, psychology, and this opportunity seemed especially perfect for me because I love kids!

What is your favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of the job is interacting with children and their families and getting them excited about science!

Why are you interested in science?

I love science because I love to learn about the way things work. Science teaches us so much about the real world and how it all works!

What surprising thing have you learned about yourself so far this summer, or what new skill have you learned this summer?

This job has taught me how to work as part of a team. University teaches you how to work independently, so this job was refreshing in that we worked as a group and all made unique contributions. In the future, I will feel much more comfortable working with new people and as a team player!

WOW - over 4000 participants!

We are very happy to report that to date we have had 4013 children and teens take part in our research. Thank you to everyone who has participated, we hope that your experience taking part in a real life science project was an exciting and fun one!

Interview with a TAG staff member - #1

We asked several staff members about their experiences working on the Spit for Science project, so that blog readers can learn more about what it's like to be involved in research and science. Our first interview is with Daniel Chan.


What are you taking in school? What year are you entering?

I majored in Physiology last year, but I have recently switched into a different program known as Interdepartmental Honors in Immunology. It is a broader program that entails aspects of Physiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, which allows me to learn more about various subjects in science instead of focusing on just physiology. I will be entering my 3rd year at McGill come September.

What made you apply to be a research assistant for Spit for Science?

I wanted to learn more about the research process, and be a part of something that can affect a large amount of people. There's also the opportunity to learn and gain experience; in both academic and social aspects. Finally, it is based at the Science Centre. There's so many cool things to do there, fun things that are entertaining, and as well as educational aspects. Since I've been working at the Science Centre, I've actually learned quite a few 'fun facts' about science.

What is your favourite part of the job?

Each day has its moments which make this job amazing. There's actually quite a few that come to mind. For example, there was that feeling of accomplishment on the day the team broke 1000 participants; the Science Centre was about to close and we were still a few people short, so we made a huge effort to find those last few participants in order to break that landmark. There's also those moments that just amaze us, such as that first time a child filled that test tube in a single spit. Another time was the heartwarming incident when a child, at first reluctant to spit despite the allure of the prizes, learned that the research would be used to help children around the world and for that reason he decided to participate in an act of altruism. And this list wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fun times, from the jokes within our group of colleagues to that one time when I assisted in helping one of the kids pull off a whoopee cushion prank on his brother. All in all, I would say my favourite part of this job is the interactions I have with the people who play a role in this project, participants as well as the TAG team. I think we've become quite a cohesive group.

Why are you interested in science?

Science is like trying to solve a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. It seems impossible to know everything, but with every little segment you complete, you get a better idea of what the whole picture looks like. Each piece is so small and can only work in a certain way (like some of the laws in science), but then every piece is related in some way when you take a step back. It makes life much more interesting, when you can look at even the simplest objects and grasp an idea of how inherently complicated they really are. Maybe its the combination of the the vast, incomprehensible nature of science and its simple elegance that I find so appealing. And for me, another positive aspect of science is its applications; we can use what we learn to help people - like the work of researchers and doctors - something I hope I will be doing in the future.

What surprising thing have you learned about yourself so far this summer, or what new skill have you learned this summer?

Well, aside from the newfound expertise in the art of expelling sputum samples from our mouths, I have actually learned quite a bit. I feel like my social skills have grown, it's getting easier to approach and strike up conversations with people I've only just met moments ago. There has been some opportunities for me to learn more about programming and computer functions, as well as times where I can practice thinking quickly in response to an unanticipated situation. And as a team, I think we've all learned how to micromanage large groups of people. When large groups enter our station, we have to ensure participants complete all the tasks while maintaining some type of structure - something I feel we're doing quite well at.

What happens to my spit?

Are you wondering what happens to your spit sample after you leave the study? Do you wonder where it goes or how we get DNA from it? If so, you need to check out this great link on the Genetic Science Learning Center website at the University of Utah. Here, in an interactive DNA Extraction Virtual Lab, you can see how DNA gets taken out, or extracted from, saliva samples.

Our procedure is the same as what you will see online, but instead of using saliva collection swabs we had participants spit right into a collection tube.

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/extraction/

After you leave the study, we store your saliva sample with all of the others that we collected that day. Every couple of weeks, we bring all the samples back to a lab at The Hospital for Sick Children and the samples are extracted using the same method shown in the virtual lab!