Career Goals: Mid-internship update

Welcome to Week 7 of my Outreachy internship!

In my previous blog post, I shared an in-depth overview of my work with Bioconductor and offered guidance for beginners interested in contributing to the BugSigDB project.

We're now at the halfway point of the internship, and the past two weeks have been especially productive. I gave my second presentation to the BugSigDB team (the community meets once per week over video call and discusses ongoing curation challenges), during which I discussed dysbiotic changes in the gut microbiome of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. You can view my curation in the database here.

Additionally, I’ve begun researching potential career paths and tailoring my resume to align with the roles I’m interested in.

This week, I’ll be sharing my career goals, volunteer experiences, and the skills I hope to explore beyond this internship.

Career Goals

My volunteer experience and internship with the Bioconductor community have opened up exciting new directions for my career.

Moving forward, I’m eager to continue exploring opportunities in scientific data curation and open research, with a strong interest in contributing to projects that promote open science, open infrastructure and data transparency. I’m particularly drawn to roles that combine biological research with data management, as well as those that support collaborative, community-driven initiatives. In the long term, I aspire to work at the intersection of bioinformatics and science communication, facilitating the accessibility and usability of complex biological data for researchers, clinicians, and the general public.

Volunteer Experiences

As a way of giving back to the open science community, I’m committed to continuing my contributions to the Bioconductor project and hope to volunteer as an Outreachy mentor for future internship cohorts. Supporting and guiding new contributors, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, is something I’m passionate about. It’s a valuable way to learn more while helping other curators.

Additionally, as an Atlantic Committee member at the Microbiome Virtual International Forum, I will continue to promote global science communication by helping to organise events, fostering collaboration, and facilitating meaningful discussions around microbiome research. Through these efforts, I aim to contribute to building a more inclusive and collaborative scientific community.

Skills

Throughout my internship, I’ve had the opportunity to strengthen my data curation skills while also developing new ones, particularly in areas such as scientific data presentation, GitHub for version control and issue tracking, as well as the R programming language. Additionally, I've honed my ability to work efficiently in a remote environment and communicate online in a concise, effective manner, skills that are increasingly valuable in today's collaborative research landscape but not easily mastered.

Moving forward, I’m excited to continue building my proficiency in R and expanding my toolkit with other relevant skills, such as data visualization and collaborative tools for open science. These skills will be crucial to advancing my career in scientific data curation and open research, and I look forward to applying them professionally.

Looking Ahead

As I reflect on the journey so far, I’m incredibly grateful for the growth, mentorship, and opportunities this internship has provided. Being part of the Bioconductor community has not only strengthened my technical and communication skills but also deepened my commitment to open science and inclusive collaboration.

With the remaining weeks of the internship ahead, I look forward to continuing my contributions, learning from my mentors and peers, and further shaping the path I hope to follow in scientific data curation.

I’m also open to new opportunities starting in mid-August. Feel free to reach out to me here if you or someone in your network is hiring for roles in data curation, open science, or related fields. Thank you for following along on this journey. I’m excited to see where it leads next!