“Be kinder than necessary,” her favorite quote reads, “for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” Dr. Kim Carlson is no stranger to kindness, and as a professor and co-chair of the 生物系, she can attest to the impacts of this quality on a person’s career and life.

The 2022-2023 school year begins Carlson’s 20th year at 太阳城娱乐官网. 她于1998年在太阳城娱乐官网大学林肯分校获得博士学位之前，在科尔尼大学获得了教育学学士学位和硕士学位。 在她的整个教育经历中，卡尔森博士希望她在学生时代就知道的一件事是拥有乐于助人、关心他人、体贴的导师和同事的重要性。  

“My experience as a master’s student would have been a disaster if Dr. Paul Twigg, who was a member of my committee, didn’t step in and help me out,” Carlson said.  

Twigg协助Carlson准备GRE考试。 His wisdom and guidance even provided her with additional terms she uses frequently in her lexicon: “I have him to thank for the words ‘boon’ and ‘plethora’ in my vocabulary,” Carlson said.  

拥有优秀的委员会成员也对卡尔森产生了影响。 “My PhD committee members were great and very supportive! 我总是觉得我可以向他们寻求任何帮助。” 

除了乐于助人的委员会成员，卡尔森还强调了找到一位高质量导师的重要性。 “My PhD mentor was phenomenal,” she raved. “He spent a lot of time working with me and training me. Not only to become a good scientist but a good person.” The genuine ability of Carlson’s mentor to assist her with her goals has also led to research collaboration. With her mentor now retired in Australia, Carlson can “still count on him and do research projects with him,” something that may not have happened if she had had a different mentor.  

在她的教育过程中，他人的善良和影响推动了卡尔森取得了她最大的学术成就：获得了遗传学、细胞和分子生物学的博士学位。 Collaboration in the field also awarded her what she considers “a close second” in her educational achievements: the patent for an HIV-related gene that was ultimately used to help treat HIV.  

这种对优秀导师和委员会成员价值的理解也给了卡尔森自己当导师的机会。 “My favorite part of my job is teaching, which includes mentoring undergraduate and graduate students,” she said.  “I love to work with them, get to know them on a different level, and…watch as they get excited about something they are working on. 看到这种兴奋真是太有趣了。” 

卡尔森不仅是学生的导师，她还通过在各种董事会和委员会的服务为她的领域、社区和校园做出了贡献。  

“I love service,” she said simply.  

From the 开放教育资源 committee to the Nebraska Cures statewide service activity and its Nebraska Women in STEM initiative board, Carlson advocates for students, for education, and for women in STEM.  

The kindness others showed Carlson marks her educational journey, and the kindness she continues to show others demonstrates this, as evident in her email signature: “Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”