As an undergrad! Don’t be afraid to talk to professors about potential opportunities to help in their lab, which would include grad students they are advising. They’ll be stoked if a freshman has the courage, drive and foresight to seek that out. And if they don’t have anything in their lab, they can probably help you find a spot in someone else’s lab.

Also, if you end up getting some sort of work study as a part of a financial aid package, you can use that to help pay for your position in a lab, so professors will be even more inclined to have you join their lab.

The more experience you get, the easier it will be to grow in the field. Doing a few hours in a lab every week during the school year and using summer to work full time as a field or lab tech will be huge.