Hear from Science Assistant Philip Andrew Helig

What is your educational background?

I graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a Bachelor’s of Science. While there, I majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry.

What is your position? When did you start working in MCB?

I started working as a Science Assistant in June of 2015. As a Science Assistant, I do special projects for the division, assist Principal Investigators during proposal submission, translate some of the more complicated science into plain language, and assist with the MCB Blog posts.

What attracted you to work for NSF?

Last year, I had the opportunity to work as an intern in the Division of Environmental Biology and MCB. This prior experience at NSF led me to apply for the position of Science Assistant. I knew this job was perfect for me because of my science background and my love for the subject. I also knew that this would be an amazing networking opportunity, with an abundance of science professionals available for me to talk to about a possible future in science. I really liked the people that I worked with at NSF.

What have you learned so far from your position?

In my previous appointments at NSF, I was in charge of organizing and retiring files. That experience greatly strengthened my organizational skills.

Though I was somewhat comfortable with my writing abilities when at school, it wasn’t until I started working here as a Science Assistant that I really started to feel confident. Being surrounded by people who are so passionate about science has reinforced my love for science. My interest in biology and biochemistry has grown significantly since I started working in MCB.