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The Researcher
The Children's News team made its first stop of the evening at the Karp Family Research Laboratories, where researcher Rebecca Wingert was just beginning her evening's work at 11:06 p.m. A sixth-year graduate student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Harvard Medical School, Wingert conducts research on blood mutants in zebrafish in the lab of Leonard Zon, MD, director of the hospital's Stem Cell/Developmental Biology Research program, where she has worked for the past five years.
While Wingert's work hours frequently revolve around her teaching schedule—she currently teaches an introductory biology class at the Harvard Extension School—she generally enjoys working during late-night hours, when there aren't as many people around. "I'll often work a full day and then come back at night to get caught up or to continue working on an exciting finding," said Wingert. "I find that I think more clearly and get more accomplished when I'm on my own in the lab."
And Wingert isn't the only researcher who feels this way. The laboratory door could be heard opening and closing a number of times during the interview, narrating the comings and goings of other researchers. But Wingert doesn't really count herself among the ranks of the night owls. "I just enjoy the tranquility of the late-night hours," she said. "It's more of a personal preference."
