Terri Gula

STEM PhD, salty postdoc, she/her. Thoughts + opinions are my own.

[Dr. Jordan Lukins @jmlukins]

If you are on the academic job market and no one has told you: you are allowed to have geographic parameters. To stay close to family, for a partner’s job, or just because you like/don’t like a place on the map…it’s okay to care about where you live. @AcademicChatter #phdchat

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@Kyle_Ireton Thanks! I credit it to getting paid fairly as a postdoc.

The salary for my second postdoc is very competitive and that comes with being able to afford these "luxuries" which is contributing to an increase overall sense of well-being - a plug for paying postdocs more

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

One of the hardest parts about being a postdoc (and grad student) is not getting to see family often because traveling is so expensive and time off is limited

Just booked my flight home to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in years - very excited!

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@ScienceisWhere Right if anything I like leaning to specifics but Im so interdisciplinary at this point that it doesn't actually encompass all that I do

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

When did you start introducing yourself a scientist?

Or do you go for position specific titles?

I remember debating if we were "worthy" enough to introduce ourselves as scientists as grad students and I'm feeling the same kind of way as a postdoc tbh

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@raearomano @SurfaceSciSean If you have any air filters maybe add that to the room as well. Spackling the hole would be more permanent than tape.

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@raearomano I never thought of that as a risk before! Just curious how did you find out that there's a lead paint base layer?

[Hannah Locke---got soil microbes? @HLockeSTEM]

PIs & postdocs: If you see a grad student being too harsh on themselves, please say something. Saying "they put this pressure on themselves" rarely helps. Maybe they need a reminder that their dissertation is the beginning of their scientific career, rarely the magnum opus.

[Tom Wilks @tom_wilks]

Bohemian rhapsody for postdocs:

Is this a real job?
Or more like a PhD?
Caught in short contracts
No chance of stability

Open your eyes
Look up to PIs and see
I'm just a postdoc
I get no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go
Stress is high
Pay is low

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@LuisZaman @ATinyGreenCell Second hiring people to move the boxes on/off the truck. Definitely worth it

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@marie_fiori Yes write it early! I wanted to write a beautiful acknowledgement for my thesis but then I was tired and had a deadline to meet so it turned out to be just eh

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@cjcornthwaite Not only do these responsibilities seem to grow with age, some of us have more of them to begin with too. For instance, I can't just make a leap because I have zero safety net from family to fall back on - I need to know I will be secure.

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@ZJAyres 👏👏 I highly recommend SanBao Studio for some really cool underglaze decals if you keep up with pottery!

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@GrubStreetWomen My thoughts went straight to university presidents when I read a post about academic bloat. This is why

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@JF_Brinkworth @MarieGoodall_11 @fisher_ke That's how I read it too. I've been put in uncomfortable situations like this as a postdoc and I knew it was impossible but I didn't exactly have a say

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@SpotlightMining @ZJAyres Geology definitely counts!! Plus I've been to enough AGU conferences to really appreciate the overall casualness of geologists!

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@SarahKheiredine I use titles either for when someone asks what I do for a living (and no one knows what a postdoc is) or when I am trying to establish some kind of authority on a topic such as saying I'm a scientist in this field so I know x about y

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@AdamOstr @DHM0219 I like your point about all the scientists without PhDs. Makes me realize that my own insecurity about being scientist "worthy" is pretty elitist

It probably comes from the fear of introducing myself as a scientist and having a PI scoff because I didn't meet certain metrics

[Terri Gula @terri_gula]

@EtkinBasak I'm a bumble bff pro 😂

Main thing that I learned is to take it from the messaging stage to meeting up quickly or else it will fizzle out! I also had some promising connections that fizzled in person - it takes work but worth it for finding good friends