A Day in the Life of an IBS Member: featuring Cherlynn Dumburra
1/6--We’re pleased to feature an IBS member for our popular series, A Day in the Life. Meet Cherlynn Dumbura, associate research scientist from Zimbabwe. Ms. Dumbura has been an IBS member for 7 years. Follow along on our social media channels or read her activities here as she takes us through a typical day. If you know someone or are interested in being featured in this series in the coming year, please contact me, Courtney Fowler, IBS Communications and Marketing Manager.
2/6--“I arrive at work at 7:40 am feeling positive and ready to tackle today’s tasks and learn something new. My first stop: the coffee station. My own workstation has paintings made by my sons and myself. The view adds to my daily motivation
3/6--“I hold a data analytics huddle with my colleagues Tsitsi Hove, statistician (to my left), and Wellington Murenjekwa, biostatistician (to my right). We discuss progress, challenges, and upskilling opportunities. I make my to-do list for the day using a Trello board, which reminds me of due dates for my PhD work. I use the Papers with Code platform to search for papers that are relevant to my research work and keep up with analytical stride approaches which are changing rapidly. We must stay up to date!”
4/6--“Most days I pack my lunch to help control what I eat. On other days, we take a 5-minute walk to the food truck station to purchase chips, sadza (pap), rice, meat, and soft drinks. And then we eat in the garden.” #biometrics
5/6-- “I am part of the HE2AT Center consortium whose primary objective is to use innovative data science approaches to quantify the current and future impacts of heat exposure on maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa. I serve as a PhD student, data scientist, and coordinator. My role is to assist in the pooling of data and analysis with the team to meet the group’s objectives.
I served as a co-chair of the IBS website sub-committee, which coordinates the monitoring of the IBS website for maintenance and updates. It has been a pleasure learning and interacting with the members during these processes. My term is ending, and the rotation of leadership positions ensures we have continuous capacity building, cross-pollination, and the benefit of different personalities.”
6/6 “I leave for home at 7 pm. I am happy if I manage to tick off at least 80% of my to-do for the day and have executed them in quality instead of quantity. Tomorrow is another day and another chance to learn and excel. I arrive home and watch my kids perform for me, and it’s a great activity to end the day.”