Dr. Kalan’s favorite part about her job is being able to work with everyone in the lab and having the ability to answer questions from multiple perspectives through computational methods and in the wet lab.
Dr. Kalan has always been interested in microbial interactions, during part of her Ph.D. work she studied how antibiotics are made in the environment. She first got exposed to the field of microbiology as an undergraduate student at the University of Alberta in Canada. Dr. Kalan has always been interested in science but was unsure of what field she wanted to specialize in until she took a microbiology class and became fascinated with the subject.
Dr. Kalan’s advice to her younger self:
“Don’t worry too much about your future career, everything will work out in the end. As an undergraduate student, she worried about what to do next and as a result, tried many different things like working in a biotech company before graduate school to explore her interests and an internship with an individual to expose herself to different careers”.
Things Dr. Kalan would bring to a deserted island:
- A fishing rod to catch food
- Books to pass time
- A water filter to stay hydrated
When Dr. Kalan is not working in the lab, she likes to travel and experience new cultures. One of her favorite places that she has been to is Indonesia. She enjoyed the positive and upbeat culture and how she could hike one-day and scuba dive the next day, she also liked exploring different restaurants in Indonesia. In her free time, she also likes to go on walks or runs for exercise and play with her kids.