Overview

This page is meant to serve as a resource for new members joining the lab. Please utilize this page as an initial checklist of things to do and learn as you are settling in. If there is something missing that would be helpful to new lab members, ADD IT!

ID & logistics of the lab

• If you are completely new to the university, go to the IOWA One Card Center to register yourself and obtain an ID card. Contact Bin to get you access to the biology and biology building east entrance, as well as a key to our lab.

Online accounts

We use a number of web apps to help with inventory, communication within the lab, reference management and cloning designs. Below are the websites and how you can join our lab.

• Slack: this is a team chatting platform that we use to communicate sciences and other fun stuff within the lab. Ask Bin to send you an invite to join.
• Quartzy: this is our ordering and inventory management app. You can search for items existing in the lab, re-order them, or place new requests. The actual ordering happens outside of the app.
• Zotero: this is our preferred reference management app, both for the lab and also recommended for personal library management.
• Benchling: this is a free app for cloning design and also strain database management. You can create new designs (e.g. Gibson), keep your electronic lab notebook, view previous results and search/register bacterial and yeast strains on this site. We also use it to track shared oligos and plasmids in the lab.
• We make extensive use of Google Docs for creating shared documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

  Safety training

  Please log on to the EH&S training page. Most of you will be choosing the “UI non-paid student login”. Once you are at the course selection site, choose the following course numbers and complete them on ICON. Notice that W008CM and W004BO will ask you to print one sheet of “Site Specific Training”. We need to go through that sheet together and both Bin and you must sign it.

• Chemical Safety, General (W008CM, LCSS) Will use/handle chemicals in a lab setting?

• Fume Hood Safety (W485CM) Will use a chemical fume hood to limit exposure to hazardous chemicals?

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (W157CM) Will work with hazardous materials and/or be exposed to hazards requiring PPE to control hazards?

• Biohazardous Waste (W524HZ) Will generate or handle biohazardous waste?

• Biological Safety, General (W004BO) Will work with biological agents/materials?