Meet this week's Grad Chat guest!
Greetings, I’m Dr Darryl Boyd (he/him) , aka Dr Boyd “The Chemist.” I’m a Research Chemist at the US Naval Research Lab (NRL) in Washington, DC, and I’m also the co-founder of Science Made Simple LLC, which is STEM Outreach Company I started with my wife.
I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan (the city from whence those 1 st COVID-19 vaccines recently rolled out from in the United States). I have a Bachelor degree from the University of Michigan, and Master and Doctorate degrees from Purdue University. Following my doctoral studies, I began working at NRL as a National Research Council postdoc. I was later hired on as a full-time employee where I now work in the Optical Sciences Division, primarily working on sulfur-based polymers with cool optical properties. I run a STEM-focused YouTube channel that is meant to give simple explanations for fun, hands-on science experiments (link below). Oh, and I must mention that my wife and I are the parents to a beautiful 1-year old daughter.
There are so many “terrible mentor” stories that I’d like to share the many positive experiences that I’ve had with various mentors. I’ll also be imparting what positive qualities I think these mentors displayed. The end goal is to help people identify mentors that will get the best out of their mentees. It has been a decade since I was in grad school, but since earning my PhD, I have frequently visited Colleges & Universities throughout the country to discuss my experiences with students at those institutions. So I hope my perspectives are helpful to everyone. I’m both honored and excited to be joining the chat. See you there!
You can follow Darryl on Twitter at @DrBoyd_Chemist, on Instagram at @sciencemadesimple_llc and find out more about his work at the following:
Darryl will takeover the PhD Balance Instagram today before appearing as our Grad Chat special guest with Fay tomorrow to talk about Qualities of a Great Mentor. Join the Youtube Livestream on Saturday (12/19) using this link.
You can also now listen to all our Grad Chat episodes as a podcast, which is hosted on Anchor FM and available on all major streaming services!