Onboarding Process and Resources Guide

If you are new to lab, here are the essential steps of the onboarding process. All new lab personnel need to complete the first-set of following tasks and new undergrads have additional tasks to complete - scroll down for more info! 

For Everyone

Online UC Davis Fundamentals of Lab Safety & Site Specific Safety Training

Review our Safety Resources page for further information

HR Onboarding Appointment

Email Chad Carraher, with GBSF Human Resources, to request to attend one of the Genome Center HR onboardings. This is a quick, painless 20 minute paper-signing meeting. Please do this ASAP. When reaching out to Chad, Cc' Ashley and Ryan and share the following information in your email: Lab, position title, student status (if applicable), whether the position is paid or volunteer,  and if you are a minor. 

Key Card Access
Apply for Aggie Access
Complete your AggieAccess request form. This starts the process for getting a key card. You will be prompted to provide the following info (among some other more obvious stuff):
  • If you are not currently an enrolled student, select Temporary Affiliate
  • Your Key Control Manager's name is Ernie Hoftyzer
  • The name of your principal investigator is Justin Siegel
  • The department is Genome Center
  • Building is GBSF, 5th Floor north suite
  • Select: AggieAccess Mobile Credential
Once you've completed your key card download by using the invitation code sent by the system, great job! You are close to having access but one more thing is required: You may now reach out to Ernie (eahoftyzer@ucdavis.edu) to request admin approval (only after your download is complete). Please email Ernie (and Cc Ashley & Ryan) with your name and student ID and confirm that you have successfully got the app on your phone. Ernie and the HR team will take it from there
Siegel Lab Mailing List

Please reach out to Simon to request you be added to the Siegel Lab listserv. This is the communication channel used to circulate critical time sensitive information for lab members, as well as job opportunities, salient newly published papers, and other resources.

Siegel Lab Website

You will be added as a group member to the Siegel Lab Website. Complete this form to have your information added to the website and give Ashley a heads up when you complete this. The form requires that you submit a picture of yourself.

Joining the Siegel Lab Discord Server

The Siegel Lab grad students have started a Discord Server. Many of you are probably familiar with Discord but if you're not, it's a communication app (messaging, voice channel, and now video streaming app) born in the gaming world and is now being enjoyed by lots of groups. Conversations on our server range from "actual work or something" to #memes. Please feel encouraged to download the app and email Ashley for an invite link. 

Undergraduate Specific Tasks

Undergrads: you will be added to the mailing list, lab website, and discord server after completing your first round of D2D training or completing a quarter of consistent work. 
BglB Google Calendar

The BglB Office Hours Google Calendar resource is designed to help new BglB students get off to a great start in their first round of mutant characterization. However, anyone should feel welcome to come into lab during Office Hours. Either one the Student Lab Assistants or Ashley will be available to help answer questions during these times. Office Hours also provide a great time to connect with other BglB Undergrads and work together. You should come to Office Hours knowing what protocol/workflow step you are on and how much time you will need to complete that step. 

BglB Workflow and 2017 BglB Publication

The updated, entire BglB workflow with protocols can be found here. Please review this document to get a sense for its structure and how to navigate around in it.   The paper: Thermal stability and kinetic constants for 129 variants of a family 1 glycoside hydrolase reveal that enzyme activity and stability is a great resource if you want to do a little reading/prep for the project.

Lab Contract

Link to PDF here. Please complete and send to Dr. Siegel and Cc' Ashley

Units Form (optional, but strongly recommended)

We highly recommend that you register for research units. This helps us keep track of your participation, builds in accountability, and appropriately compensates you for your time and effort in lab! We realize that some of you may be facing unit cap restrictions and will not be able to add research units to your schedule. That’s okay, but please let us know if this is the case. Otherwise, please consider registering for units. We highly recommend that you consult with your major and/or academic advisor if you have any questions about how these units may or may not further your degree. To register for units, you will need to fill out this form. Please email the completed form to Dr. Siegel and Ashley. If you have not completed upper division chemistry coursework, don’t worry - it’s not required. The topic should include something along the lines of functional characterization of mutant b-glucosidase. Report where you will be coming back into the workflow starting this quarter, and where you anticipate ending the workflow at the end of the term. Criteria for a passing grade should include a statement about the time commitment that you will be giving to the project. Remember that 1-unit equates to 3 hours of work on the project. I am happy to help you complete the form if you have any questions or concerns. This is a process, after Dr. Siegel signs off, you will send the form to Perry Gee with a copy of your certificate of completion of Fundamentals of Lab Safety (don't worry about the Lab Safety cert while we are still in COVID times).