Field Application Scientist Didn't Expect This Job

Name: Cody Kowalski (he/him)

PhD: Neuroscience, Washington State University, 2019

What was your main area of research?

I used single-cell electrical recordings and functional imaging of cultured cells, brain slices, and living animals to investigate the autonomic effects of cannabis for my dissertation.

Though the autonomic tetrad of cannabis is well known, nobody had yet investigated the underlying physiology. My findings shed light on the therapeutic effects of cannabidiol, and the mechanism of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.

In my first postdoc, I used similar approaches and molecular biology to study a protein called Ptchd1 that affects cholesterol, that we'd learned affected opiate tolerance. I found that its deletion prevented opiate withdrawal, and caused reverse tolerance (sensitization) of opioid analgesia, a finding that could eventually be used to radically improve clinical pain management and curb opioid abuse.

What is your current job?

I am a Field Application Scientist supporting In-vivo imaging for Revvity Inc in Southeast USA.

I help customers troubleshoot experimental, software, and hardware issues with our imaging equipment via email, video calls, and sometimes on-site visits. I also give pre-sales and training presentations virtually and in-person to current and potential customers, and periodically travel to conferences to promote our equipment. I work from home, from the office, and in the field while traveling.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

My team. They're extremely kind, supportive, and understanding. My boss strongly supports work-life balance. There is absolutely zero expectation for me to work more than 40 hours a week. I consider them all my friends.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

I hadn't used the exact type of imaging equipment I now support, but the imaging concepts are similar and mostly translatable. The extensive experience I got troubleshooting technical issues, and developing software or hardware solutions to some especially intractable problems is as helpful as my experience teaching and giving scientific talks.

Any PhD with reasonable social skills could do my job well.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

I didn't plan for this job; it just suited the aspects of my academic career that I enjoyed the most. I often would go out of my way to help neighboring labs address technical issues because I found that problem solving to be satisfying, and enjoyed helping out. Now I do that full time without any of the pressures of a research career.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

LinkedIn

PhD graduate ➡️ Postdoctoral fellow ➡️ Postdoctoral fellow ➡️ Contract grant writing ➡️ Field Application Scientist.

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Everyone has some kind of equipment that is the bread and butter of their research career. Befriend some of the industry FAS or service techs who help you make that equipment work, or seek them out at a conference. If you have a lot of experience with a product line and an internal referral, you'd be a shoe-in for a FAS role.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

When I was younger, I wanted to work in academia to become a professor at an educational institution. I got enraptured by research, but felt that working 60-hour+ weeks was unsustainable, and I would burn out.

Then, I uncovered data manipulation from a technician and brought it to my PI. The final straw was when I learned they had dismissed the last several complaints about this falsified data.

I had to take another postdoc in order to avoid repaying my F32 fellowship, which was negotiated as a 2-year postdoc to set up a new lab with some of the techniques I was most proficient with. 8 months into this role, a few days after completing the last major experimental pipeline, I was in a hit and run with an SUV -- I had a seizure, woke 2 hours later, and regained short term memory about 24 hours later, with bruises everywhere and broken bones. My PI pulled all my data from cloud storage then fired me while I was still hospitalized on the false basis that I had done no work since my appointment 8 months prior. I had been working 60-70 hours per week in this role, effectively below minimum wage.

The project I had just finished was a cheap open-source multielectrode array acquisition system to use in lieu of an $80,000 piece of equipment; this 7 week project saved the lab more money than I'd earned in salary and benefits over the entire 8 months of my employment. In both roles, I walked in on one of my peers ugly-crying in the cold room. I would describe both positions as abusive not only because of poor work-life balance.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

In academia, you have to be a jack of all trades, but industry is generally more specialized especially in larger mature companies. Find the parts of your role you enjoy and excel at, then look for industry positions leveraging those strengths.

Are there any components of your identity you would like to share, including how they have impacted your journey?

Despite its serious issues, I found academia was generally not discriminatory towards the aspects of my identity that I often experienced discrimination for in broader society.