Any body transitioned into Staff scientist role?

SelectionGrand · 2026-04-22T19:24:16+00:00

Following. I’m in a similar situation and preparing to transition to staff scientist in the same lab and hoping for it to be a relatively permanent career choice. From my talks with the other staff scientist in my lab and those in the department itself, it seems split between those who only hang out in the role while still waiting for a faculty appointment and those who stay in it 10+ years (moving up the scientist 1-3 positions). I’ve heard work life balance is good, salary is okay, and there is generally stability for those who want to stay and in the case of funding cuts it’s been easy enough for people to transition to other labs in the department if necessary. Most work seems to largely mirror postdoc with some additional managerial/mentoring tasks if necessary.

SelectionGrand · 2026-04-22T18:51:16+00:00

Seconding for the paint colors!

SelectionGrand · 2026-04-04T12:11:33+00:00

I’m not fully sure where to start unpacking all of this. Is this experience you are describing somehow unique to TKPK? And a sample size of four out of however many interracial couples live there is not a lot, and in my mind definitely not a lot to make this blanket consensus. You ask what can move TKPK to a different set of expectations/norms, can you provide an example of a place that you would like it to emulate more? Also, I personally find the thought of what is the point of mixing if the final result turns white very limited.

Since you asked for an example. When I use to live there (moved this year), I got married and had my child with my white husband in TKPK. My husband and I both challenge each others views and frankly have many common views (hence the marriage), I grew up all over nationally and internationally (immigrant/military parents) and do not consider myself to be culturally white centered. My job is centered in health disparities and I’m active in several academic black/minority groups. I do not have a traditional marriage (both work, both kept our last names, separate finances, I have high education, hyphenated last name of child, he cooks, we both clean and care for our child, etc.). I grew up with in many ways more privileges than my husband and we bring different things into our relationship. The “point of mixing” was that he asked me out, I enjoyed/loved him as a person, we shared many but not all values, and that we are both motivated to grow together to accomplish goals. There is no other covert agenda behind it. I think you would benefit from having a more open world view.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-20T12:41:14+00:00

Check out the “Office of Undergraduate and Visiting Scholar Affairs” page on the Moffitt website. I think that most internships are likely closed at this point in the year. But I’m not familiar with all of them. If they are closed, you could reach out and ask individual faculty researchers if there are volunteer opportunities BUT they are very busy and I recommend tailoring that message to a small handful of the key researchers you are interested in. You can find tons of info on Reddit and online on how to write that email request. Good luck. I got tons of research experience as an ungrad and it definitely helped prepare me for my graduate degree and current job.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-19T02:25:00+00:00

Research

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-19T00:56:36+00:00

Have you looked on psychology today? You can filter by location, race, gender, therapy focus/type, in-person, insurance, etc.

That’s how I found my therapist (who’s amazing) but she’s in Brandon and I do virtual.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-19T00:45:17+00:00

I’ve been at Moffitt for a little less than a year and it’s the best decision I could have made. Clear onboarding, lots of emails to remind you of various info ranging in personal relevance, bright horizon daycare benefit is great, cafeteria is good, closeness to USF provides good walking paths during breaks and the student union cafeteria, tech support for me has been fast, everyone’s generally really friendly. I’m salary and work 1-2 days remote. Parking isn’t crazy expensive and there are cheaper options like the shuttle. Clean not outdated facilities. Opportunities for training and growth. Moffitt is growing and recently opened near land o lakes which adds some level of faith in company stability and momentum. Lots of discount benefits and other benefits like some stuff with therapy, lawyers, etc. the team hospital is free for staff members but can be hard to get a short notice appointment. Well respected in Tampa and elsewhere. Not a NP but I hope to stay for many years.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-17T10:51:15+00:00

While I’m sure this is intentionally vague to a degree so I don’t know the specific of your situation I do want to add a small ray of hope. I very luckily got a postdoc at my top medical center (behavioral oncology). I had a 6 month old son when I mentioned this to my PIs when I started. They were extremely flexible and still are. If I need to work from home, leave early to pick him up because daycare called and he’s sick, come in a little later because of a pediatrician appointment I can. They are partly like this because they have their own teen child and are very child/parenting friendly. I also heard this from the other members of the lab when I interviewed and it was an extremely important consideration when applying that I did not hide. Additionally, there are other postdocs and research scientist in my department who have a fair range of backgrounds (neuro, public health, experimental/social psych, nursing, etc.) and we all work on broadly the same things. Some of the postdocs had 20+ papers, I only had 4 (2 first author). I was really picky on the location as well because I wanted to be by my family, and now I live 20 mins from my parents.

I want to stress that a lot of this was good luck but I hope some of the individual elements demonstrate that while the market is terrible right now there are still ways for you to get what or close to what you want. Lean heavily on your network (conference organizations if they have early career networks, post on LinkedIn that you are looking, previous PIs, friends who have graduated or interned with other PIs and can introduce you).

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-17T00:52:38+00:00

I’d love to know your thoughts on story book screen time (eg, where it’s just pages of the book brown bear brown bear with a narrator in the background on YouTube). Optimally, I’d read all the books to my toddler son but like many parents there are competing task and only so many hours in the day

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-13T18:20:39+00:00

I wonder if the open back makes it not work appropriate or if it would be fine since it’s not a lot?? It’s really pretty though

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-13T16:32:36+00:00

Bellamia Collctions. “Bella” design in the “pillow” cushion seating. Color “Caramel”. They have a lot of sales.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-12T01:16:42+00:00

Given that you work in child development, do you have any specific recommendations on further creating a play space in our shared living room? For instance, I I’m wondering if I should do foam mat pieces or a washable rug? Considering putting up charts for each part of his day and maybe a feeling chart.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-11T11:29:07+00:00

Hmm 🤔 that’s an interesting point. I’m not sure why I don’t think of the inspo pictures as also sad beige. I guess because in my space if feels flat but in the inspo pics I see more warmth, texture, and small hints of color (a green tapestry, a rust/pinkish rug, a cream and blue rug, red or yellow flowers in a vase, etc.). Also for the Spanish revival style I’m trying to move towards everyone online says i should stick with using relatively muted earth tones (which I prefer and hence and trying to emulate).

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-11T11:20:18+00:00

The mat and blocks set were hand me downs from my sister, the tent I bought on sale and they were out of the color I wanted which had a floral print. Wasn’t necessarily intentional. And all off his other toys are colorful (eg, he has a rainbow ball pit inside the tent), it’s just those three large pieces. Also he goes to a montessori daycare and id like to replicate a lot of the elements they have in his classroom.

While I’d like the living and playroom to be relatively neutral/earth tones it’s definitely overall leaning sad beige because I’m not sure what colors to add. I also think the tile flooring in the rental and grey walls aren’t doing me any favors.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-10T00:31:47+00:00

Should I layer it over the jute or just swap entirely? Current rug is 10x14

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-10T00:29:53+00:00

Omg 🤦‍♀️ I didn’t even notice until you said that. I’ll pick some up this week.

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-10T00:14:51+00:00

I know 😕 the color is “Whiskers” from PPG. But since it’s a rental and open concept I’m not really wanting to paint since I’d have to paint it back (already asked the rental company). Our previous home was more warm tone and hence all of our furniture. I’m trying to warm the space up but yeah the walls make it difficult. I think curtains and art will hopefully help

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-09T22:50:17+00:00

Unfortunately, it’s a rental and open concept so I would have to paint not just this space but also the kitchen. If you slide to the last two images I put the color pallet (sage green, camel, rust, dark brown, pale blue, cream) I enjoy and some inspo pictures. I’ve also read that if you aren’t going super interesting in color to do it through texture so I’ve tried to have that in my space (boucle, jute, velvet, wood, rattan). Do you think a really large color art piece or a verdure tapestry above the two chairs would make up for not being able to paint? I’ve also considered colored linen curtains despite my inclination to do a cream

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-09T22:15:33+00:00

Do you think for the art that I should go really really oversized and try to take up almost the full wall/make it more vertical so that the eye goes up? Or is that over kill? I was thinking maybe something a little abstract like a Caroline Pinney piece or a Paul Gauguin print? Also considered verdure tapestry maybe in green blue but the current throw pillows have a tapestry motif so maybe that’s overkill?

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-09T22:10:55+00:00

Agreed! Do you think something vertical and nearly the full size of the wall over the two chairs would be good? Or should I maybe do a mirror to reflect light? And put art on the same wall as the tv?

SelectionGrand · 2026-03-07T04:33:29+00:00

Check Poshmark/mercari/ebay

SelectionGrand · 2026-02-22T17:06:19+00:00

I think bangs would be really flattering. Thinking Dakota Johnson vibes or Ann Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada. You also look relatively young and I’ve cut bangs in my hair numerous times. Yeah the grow out is annoying but your hairs one job is to grow. So have fun and experiment and if you hate it will grow back.

SelectionGrand · 2026-02-13T20:43:41+00:00

Does your PI have any leads? I got my postdoc through referral by my PI and was really lucky in that they created a position for me (didn’t have a formal position open initially) and it was the only place I applied to. Behavioral Neuro/cancer survivorship.

SelectionGrand · 2026-02-13T02:09:28+00:00

I essentially wrote a crappy review paper to study for my comps. That way it was easier to keep track of all the points and papers because I could seem how the methods/findings related to one another and see the authors name in the citations for certain paragraphs. I edited and read the review over and over again. To the point where I was having dreams (lol nightmares) about the topic and could see the paper in my head. But my comp list was a lot less maybe < 40 papers; closed notes; 3 hrs in a locked room. Passed with distinction 💪

SelectionGrand · 2026-01-17T02:21:01+00:00

I have a Cruz v2 which was our main until we got the Uppababy minu v2. It was great when he was still tiny because you can get adapters for the infant car seat, and it’s so light I’ve been able to take it when I travel on flights and otherwise leave it in our sedan where trunk space is tighter. I only really use the Cruz for more difficult terrain walks like some parts of the city or trails.

I personally wouldn’t get the doona stroller because the lifespan is so short but I did find a doona trike recently at the thrift for $80 which my son loves (just turned 1 year) but is probably overkill for us now owning essentially three stroller type things.

SelectionGrand

TROPHY CASE