In addition to be chock full of fascinating specimens-from hagfish to moose-the Vertebrate Zoology Laboratory is also home to Braden Barr. Photo credit: Dawn Graves
Tucked on the third floor of the zoology wing in the Biological Sciences Building is the Vertebrate Zoology Laboratory. In addition to be chock full of fascinating specimens-from hagfish to moose-this space is also home to Braden Barr, coordinator of the lab.
Barr, who has worked at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Science for a decade following his PhD in vertebrate paleontology supervised by Michael Caldwell, is one of more than 300 staff members in the faculty. The countless and invaluable contributions of this group make the world go round in the Faculty of Science, and we are thrilled to introduce you.
Meet Braden Barr
Job title and area:
Vertebrate Zoology Laboratory Coordinator, Department of Biological Sciences
How long have you worked at the Faculty of Science?
10 years
What's a typical day like for you?
A typical day involves a nice balance of curriculum development, laboratory set up, collections work, and supervision of the TAs who deliver the labs. If I'm lucky, I might even squeeze in some time with students in the lab.
What's the most common question people ask you about your job?:
"How's teaching going?"
People often assume that because I hold a PhD, it automatically makes me a professor. I always take the opportunity to inform them that many of the teaching support staff in the Department of Biological Sciences hold advanced degrees, making our undergraduate lab courses some of the best around. I also point out that for someone on the road to a full professorship, a doctoral degree is really just the first step and that our faculty members have had to do a lot more than defend a thesis to get where they are.
Favourite memory from work?
Landing the job. This is one of the best options of where I could work and apply my degree.
Favourite place on campus?
Our large vertebrate zoology teaching lab with all the specimens it houses; teaching is so much more effective when we can present students with real tangible examples. It's a resource that makes many other institutions envious.
Favourite thing about working in the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta?
The people: from the faculty members, to the support staff, to the graduate students, to the undergraduates. The combined effort put forward by this faculty-to discover new things and to pass them along-just impresses me.
What would you do for work if you didn't do this?
Cabinetmaker. I spent many years working in a fabrication shop, and I often miss the act of creating things with my own hands. That or professional whisky taster.