I would like to nominate Dr. Ian Rifkin for the Evans Research Mentoring Award. As the principal investigator of our laboratory, Ian works tirelessly, sometimes thanklessly, with discipline, great care and attention to detail. Barely a day has gone by in the six years that I have been in the laboratory that Ian hasn’t pulled up a chair to discuss my plan for the week, to help interpret results or to help plan the next set of experiments. Scientifically, Ian above all else, cares about scientific validity and determining the best conclusion based on the data at hand. Ian’s willingness to listen to and nurture my ideas has given me the courage to plow on through scientific setbacks, to look at data in a new light and to believe in the power of a well-planned and thought-out experiment.

Thanks to Ian’s fantastic scientific mentorship and ability to motivate, I have co-authored several publications and am in the midst of submitting two first-author publications. In addition, as Ian’s first graduate PhD student, I successfully defended my dissertation this past spring.

Ian has taught me the importance of collaboration with other scientists, both at our university and at other universities. He has supported my desire to ‘get out there and share my data’ and to learn from and meet scientists from around the world, by enthusiastically pushing me to give seminars and present at scientific meetings.

Personally, Ian is thoughtful and caring about each member of the lab as well as those that he mentors outside of the lab. In addition to members of our laboratory, Ian has mentored several of my peer graduate students over the years by serving on their thesis committees as well as meeting to discuss projects. Many of them have expressed to me how helpful he has been to them.

The greatest things Ian has taught me as a research mentor is to have patience, with the data as well as with people. He has taught me that scientific research is a marathon, and not a race, and that persistence, patience and willingness to forge ahead through problems, that can either be solved or are beyond our control, will lead to scientific triumph.

Ian has mentored me through the hardest 6 years of my career thus far, with a smile on his face and unwavering kindness, support and patience. I have learned a great deal from Dr. Ian Rifkin and I hope that you will strongly consider him for the Evans Research Mentoring Award.

Thank you,

Amanda Watkins, PhD