Posted on by Mbuyi Shadrack

Ecotoxicology: What are they talking about?

Postgraduate studies, in essence, involves an important choice regarding the field of study you want to follow. Unlike undergraduate studies, you might find yourself Postgraduate studiesfollowing your postgraduate research field for the rest of your life!  It thus becomes important to follow your passion or to find love in what you do. This month I just felt it was worth highlighting the field of study that I am in and why I find joy in what I do.

I work in ecotoxicology. And like MANY people before me, I had no idea that such a field existed, let alone that I can make a difference in the world, in such an interesting way. I think a lot of researchers don’t start out knowing what they’ll do one day. Many of us start our undergraduate years with some vague (and wrong) ideas about our future, until we meet someone or learn something that suddenly changes our world. It was somewhere in a third-year ecotoxicology course, during the practical, when I saw the theory come alive that I decided that this is something I could do. In that practical, we had to expose earthworms to Cadmium and assess endpoints such as mortality, fecundity as well as any changes in their metabolic activity. The “aha” moment for me was when I started analysing the data and interpreting the results to conclude on the effects of this chemical.

An ecotoxicologist's job is to move our world from right to left, as depicted.
An ecotoxicologist’s job is to move our world from right to left, as depicted.

Ecotoxicology focuses on the effects of contaminants, mostly of anthropogenic sources, on the different ecosystems. These range from terrestrial systems to aquatic and marine systems. The main goal however, in any of these systems, is to figure out how we negatively impact these systems and how we can be able to reverse, in part or completely, these effects for the benefit of the environment and all that benefit from it. Having had a dream to work in spaces that directly benefit humanity, I couldn’t have asked for a better field of study. My passion in particular is aquatic toxicology which focuses on how these contaminants or environmental pollutants affect the water quality, aquatic systems and those who benefit from these systems. You could say, how we are affected by our own doings; be it deliberate or not.

One of the closest related fields that I am currently also working with is chemistry. There is no way that one can assess for pollution and various contaminants in the environment without knowing what those contaminants are and how they break down in the environment and what their specific effects are. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical companies discharge a lot of pharmaceutical waste into the environment and the assessment of such contamination directly links the pharmacy field and the ecotoxicology work. Needless to say, the work of an ecotoxicologist expands beyond just the research labs and university classrooms. It comprises many risk assessment arm of many chemical, biochemistry and environmental consulting industries to name but a few.

Ecotoxicology crosses disciplines
Ecotoxicology crosses many disciplines

With the forever increasing population and changing environment, I think the work of an ecotoxicologist not only ends with the current generation but opens doors to new research that is focused on ensuring that we have clean water, living aquatic systems and a safe environment for more than just our generation.

As I have often highlighted in my previous blogs, there are different stresses that come with research. At times it becomes very stressful to a point of breaking down. Supervisors and deadlines can often be daunting too. However, doing what you love and what makes you want to do more makes the challenges bearable. Most scientists would agree that passion is what drives us through the hard times. When you go out there and can already see what needs to be done in your field to address a particular problem, that is what I call doing the science that matters!

Posted on by Mbuyi Shadrack

Supervisors are a nightmare…

I have often heard people talking about supervisors being a nightmare. Most often it’s supervisoralluded that supervisors are looking out for their own interests rather than those of the student. Furthermore, they may be the sole reason why the students would quit their graduate programs and look for alternative opportunities. I am still with my initial supervisor, so I guess this relationship is working out…maybe?

This year I met one of the finest minds of our generations — at least that is what he appears to be! He’s trained in ornithology but his research interests have spread farther than that. He has allowed himself to explore any field and opportunity that may be connected or share a boundary with his field of interest. To my eyes he is one of the researchers that we need to make academic life fashionable (so to speak). But he’s the kind of person who develops new-world problem solvers rather than research and academic robots. Of course, I may be biased, because I think I think the way he thinks 😉

HelpingBut, he isn’t my supervisor – I am an ecotoxicologist at heart. And this meant I’ve had to adjust to a supervisor I didn’t choose for myself. There was a new lecturer in the department, and since his research interests aligned perfectly with mine, he was assigned as my supervisor.

At first I was okay with this but once I got to sit down with this new person and got down to work, it became my worst nightmare. I could not, for the life of me, understand what the student-supervisor relationship meant to him. For example, when deciding on the title of my research project, we sat and discussed what I wanted to do and streamlined my objectives. When it came to the title I sent him my suggested titles, as my former supervisor had trained me to, and requested his input. He just sent me a totally new title and said, “Use that one.” Sitting alone I thought to myself, “Am I a messenger now?” Well, I did go to ask him about it but that’s the story for another day. It was many other things that just put me off. The whole situation became extremely tense, but just recently I came to a few realizations that are helping me to learn from my new position.

Firstly, I am a student. I have a responsibility and a duty to learn, grow my network and develop myself. I cannot learn all of these from one person. More so, exposure to different work ethics and understanding why people do certain things and how they do them is an integral part of academic growth.

Secondly, nobody is the same. You can have two people coming from the same training and are doing the exact same research but you will find that they will still behave differently and will approach their research differently. This is about my academic growth and development. It is not about who is on the other end and what they do. They may not be the best of supervisors in the whole world because maybe they too are still learning, but they have something to offer too.

Communication is just as important as doing research. So much of what I’ve learned about research, overcoming mistakes, and working with somebody new came from the fact that I could summon my courage and talk to my supervisor. No matter the supervisor, s/he can’t always instigate conversation or know what’s troubling you if you don’t speak up.

It is also important to have people around to talk to about your challenges as a student. I have academic mentors, friends in academia who are integral part of my journey. They not only help me get through the rough academic progress but also call me to order whenever I lose my professionalism.

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That leads to the final bit of truth: even students are professionals. An undergraduate student recently said, “We are professional students”. It was quite funny at the time but now I realize that being a postgraduate student also means being a professional student. This means respect to fellow students and supervisors, time management skill and communication skill. Moreover, it also highlights mannerism and the importance of good self-conduct.

This is how I keep winning. This is how I keep going back to the lab and working to develop myself as an academic.