Life Scientists
Study the anatomy, physiology, characteristics and behaviour of animals, plants, insects and other living organisms to better understand how living organisms function and interact with each other and the environment in which they live, and to develop and improve biotechnological products and processes.
A positive result at the food lab
You are a microbiologist at a food testing laboratory, and a sample from a small cheese maker has just shown something that should not be there. It is 4pm on Thursday. The cheese maker is a friendly client you have known for years, and the batch is due to go to market stalls on Saturday.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
The cheese sample has a growth on the plate that is not meant to be there. But I think I might have touched the plate lid with my glove before sealing it. I am so sorry. Do we count the result or not?
Throw out the plate and report that the sample was clean, since the result might be a mistake
If the batch really is contaminated, you have hidden it. The cheese goes to market with a problem that your own test had found.
Record exactly what happened, repeat the test on fresh plates from the original sample and compare the results
The repeat test shows the same growth, so the result is real and not a mistake. Lauren is relieved she spoke up, and your records show how you got to the answer.
Report the positive result as it is, without mentioning the glove
The result is probably right, but it has a flaw you didn't record. If it were challenged you could not show it was reliable.
I am hearing you found something. Please tell me it is minor. This batch is half my income for the month, and I am at the markets on Saturday. Can you just give me the all clear this once?
Give the all clear as a favour to a long time client who has always been honest with you
The cheese is sold and some customers become unwell. Giorgio loses his customers' trust, and your lab's name is on the report.
Tell him gently, explain what the result means and what happens next, and help him plan
Giorgio is shaken but thanks you for being straight. You help him trace how the contamination got in, and he is back at the markets two weeks later with a clean batch.
Tell him the result is positive and that he is on his own from here, since it is his business
You have been honest, but Giorgio leaves with a problem and no help. He needed to understand what to do next, and you were the person who knew.
I have heard about the cheese batch. You have a good relationship with the client. Let us do this properly. What will you put in the report, and who needs to be told because of it?
Report the result with the full record, including the glove mix up and the repeat test, and say who needs to be notified under the rules
The director is satisfied with the record but wishes you had called earlier about the notification. The report is fine, and the timing could have been better.
Report only the repeat test, and leave the mix up out because it was cleared
The report looks tidy, but if anyone reviews the lab notes they find the glove mix up. Leaving it out makes a sound result look less trustworthy.
Report the result with the complete record, tell Dr Barakat who must be notified and ask whether to call them today
Dr Barakat agrees with the plan and the authorities are told that evening. Everyone can see what was done and why. Accurate, complete records are a scientist's best protection.
How it went
The contamination is confirmed, the batch is held and the people who need to know have been told. Microbiologists work quietly in the background of food safety, and sometimes carry bad news to friends. Would you be willing to give honest results that are hard to deliver?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: Counting seagrass in Pelican Bay
A fictional case set in a microbiology laboratory that tests food and water, and a coastal reef research team.
The situation
Dev was a marine biologist surveying the seagrass meadows in Pelican Bay, where a council wanted to extend a boat ramp. Seagrass is nursery habitat for young fish. A local fishing club said the meadows had always been healthy and that surveys were a waste of money. Dev's team had a limited number of dives, and a storm was coming. The council's engineer asked if they could just look at the water from the jetty and sign off.
What they did
Dev explained that a view from the jetty could not show what was growing on the bottom. His team dived in pairs along fixed lines, counting and photographing the seagrass and recording its height. They found dense meadows in the northern half of the bay and bare patches in the south. Dev suggested the ramp be moved to the bare south side. He took the results to the fishing club and showed them photos taken on the dives.
How it turned out
The council moved the ramp to the southern shore, which cost a little more in access roads. The fishing club, who had been sceptical, asked Dev's team to help monitor the meadows each year. Some of them even volunteered to carry the gear.
What would you do?
- Why might looking from the jetty not be enough to sign off?
- How would you win over people who think your work is a waste of time?
- What do you think it would be like to spend a day counting plants underwater?