Hey, everyone, it’s time to avoid that thing you really need to do by reading another one of these forsaken blogs. Today, you’re in for a treat. I recently interviewed a fellow scientist and good friend, Dr. Cary Lindsey. She and I started in the same geology program approximately 8 years ago. This woman is powerful and dedicated. Perhaps her story can provide some insight and inspiration. Note: I’ve peppered in sassy remarks which you’ll find in italics in brackets.
Tell everyone a little about yourself. Let’s give the people some context.
Ugh. I hate this part. I’m a geostatistician and hydrogeologist. I finished my PhD at University of Idaho in 2018 and I am currently a Postdoc at the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy at the University of Nevada, Reno. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. If you had asked me in 2012 – when I was an undergrad at MSU – where my dream job would be, it would be where I am now. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what I wanted to do because I didn’t know, but it turns out it’s exactly what I’m doing now. I work on international projects training scientists at governmental geology agencies to enhance exploration for geothermal systems by using a bunch of geostatistics and making a bunch of maps.
Personally, I am the mother of three – two teenagers and one almost teenager. They are brilliant, beautiful, and active kids who occasionally make me want to pull my hair out. I couldn’t have picked better passengers for this journey. I grew up in a middle-class Mississippi family. My parents got divorced when I was a teenager. I’m a first gen college student. And I have a passion for mentoring non-traditional college students, especially women in STEM fields.
I love to read and find myself leaning towards non-fiction lately, especially about people who inspire me. Let’s all acknowledge that Michelle Obama’s Becoming was amazing, okay? [Everyone keeps telling me this. Maybe I should read it.] I am also a crazy couponer of late (see teenagers above – they eat a lot) and it’s a lot of fun for me because it’s a game about being cheap and I’m winning it. I also love to travel and cook and camp and other great things like that.
1 – Okay, okay, okay. So, let’s get into it. What first inspired your interest in STEM?
As a kid, I wanted to be a mathematician. I just wanted to do math all day. As I grew up, my life took a few different paths and I didn’t end up in college straight out of high school. When I did go as a 30 something year old, I thought I couldn’t handle a STEM degree. I was taking a summer session physical science course just to get the credit I needed for my psych degree and the instructor told me she was going to convince me to change my major before the class was over, and she did. I love science, math, and investigations. I think that’s the key – I love investigations, but I don’t like guns so no law enforcement for me. I’ll take science instead. When we were looking around to help me pick a science that I wanted to jump into, the plan was to look at environmental programs. As I was doing research, I found an article about geothermal power plants and I decided on geology. The job outlook for geologists looked good and my advisor convinced me to do the professional geology track instead of environmental geology and here I am.
2 – And why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree in STEM as opposed to other options?
I never wanted to stop researching. I wanted to spend the rest of my life forming questions and searching for answers. I know that sounds cheesy, but that’s it. Also, I love college campuses. I think it’s thrilling to watch young people break out of their cocoons and become enlightened like only college campuses and towns can do to a person. The tradeoff is I have to write a lot which is a real struggle for me, but one that I am working on.
Maybe that’s why I made you write out this interview, haha.
3 – Okay, so there are a lot of challenges when pursing a graduate degree. What was the biggest for you?
Time management and work/life balance for sure. I struggled with procrastination during my PhD and it wasn’t until I was diagnosed and treated for ADHD that I was able to get myself organized and stay on track. Burn out was another. You really have to love what you’re doing, because around year-3, you start to question why in the world anyone would put themselves through this grinder. As I mentioned before, writing was another. I love the research but not the writing. I do understand the importance of communicating your research, so I am committed to mastering this skill.
4 – What kept you going during your degree program? What still gets you excited about your work?
Getting it right. You know, there are those moments when your code works or the results you get are what you thought all along or your advisor really digs your new idea. I live for those moments. I loved presenting my research and I did that a lot. I love a room full of people, all their attention on me. [She’s shameless, isn’t she?] I even love the questions afterwards. Learning to say, “I don’t know, but that’s a great question.” was the best thing I ever did.
5 – How did you transition from graduate school to your career?
Well, there wasn’t much time. I graduated in May 2018 and started my job in June. The good thing is I always looked at my graduate school experience as a job. Because of the kids, I tried to keep a strict work schedule and when I was home, I was home. That has helped here for sure. I think the biggest thing for me has been to learn to stand behind my ideas. I don’t go to an advisor now and ask if this would work. I need to convince other people that it does work, and it works because I know what I’m doing. Learning to own my expertise has been tough. When people call me the geostatistician or “the expert” or “the best person to ask a question of”, I’m still shocked. [Now, she’s being modest. The same person who routinely referred to herself in college as fabulous.] I am not faking it ‘til I make it anymore. I made it and I’m still making it. Living with being successful in your chosen field can be intimidating because you feel this need to keep being successful, but I’m settling into that. So, I guess all that’s to say that the transition has been a transition in confidence and ownership of my place in the field.
6 – Still being fabulous. If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
I think if I weren’t doing this, I would like to be a public defender or a civil rights attorney. I think it’s important to do things that inspire you and make you feel good and get you jazzed up. Both of those things do it for me. This was my dream from childhood. I used to tell my father I was going to be a defense attorney for the mafia. [And I’d be a homicide detective. I would say let’s team up, but I think we’d be at odds.] I changed a bit from that when I became aware of injustices in the world, but I still like the idea of arguing and convincing a room of people or a jury that they should believe me. That they should believe what I am representing. Who knows? Maybe that’s next. I see life as a continuum. I love where I am now, but if that changes, so will I.
7 – Surprise big picture question. What’s your philosophy on life? Has graduate school, or science in general, altered that perspective?
I do think science has changed my philosophy on life (and maybe more importantly death). I think I was on this path already, but science just rooted me in my beliefs a bit more. Having just lost my mother, I confirmed that I have my beliefs and they bring me comfort. I love Aaron Freeman’s Eulogy from a Physicist. The conservation of energy brings me so much comfort and I think by working with those equations as much as I do now, I feel even more comforted by that.
One thing that grad school and completely rearranging my life in my 30s as a mom has taught me is that it is really important to do what you love. If you don’t, grad school would be almost unbearable, at least getting a PhD would. Burnout is real people, but you get past it because you want to do what you’re doing. And it’s what I want my kids to see. I want them to see me as a person who goes after what she wants and isn’t only defined by my relationship to them. They don’t always come first – I heard gasps when I typed that. Sometimes, I have to come first in order to be the best me I can be for them and for the rest of the world. There have been sacrifices that affected the kids, but the benefits of being a part of this journey outweigh those.
So philosophy: Do what you love, take care of you, and do not look for comfort in places that aren’t aligned with your values and beliefs.
Thank you so much, Cary, for taking some time to humor a friend and share your story. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by so many successful people. And I’m even more honored to call them friends. Thank you so much for reading. My next blog is scheduled for Thursday, May 9th.
The Planetary Novelist 