Lab Girl

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2016

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: Chapters 1-3

Part 1: Chapters 4-7

Part 1: Chapters 8-11

Part 2: Chapters 1-4

Part 2: Chapters 5-8

Part 2: Chapters 9-12

Part 3: Chapters 1-5

Part 3: Chapters 6-10

Part 3: Chapter 11-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

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Important Quotes

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Key Figures

Hope Jahren

Hope Jahren, the author of the memoir, grows up in Minnesota where she is the daughter of a science professor. She spends many evenings in her father’s lab, captivated by the equipment. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from University of Minnesota, she goes on to earna Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley. While at Berkeley, she meets Bill Hagopian, who becomes her friend and lab partner throughout her career.

Jahren receives a professorship from the University of Georgia in 1996 and builds her first laboratory on campus with Bill’s help. She throws herself into her work but doesn’t receive funding for her grant proposals. While in Georgia, she suffers from manic-depressive disorder. She does not seek help for her condition until she accepts a job at Johns Hopkins in 1999. She and Bill build a new lab there, and Jahren’s health improves. She meets her future husband Clint in D.C. and convinces him to move in with her after a few weeks of dating. They marry while on a trip to Norway. Jahren endures a difficult pregnancy, which results in a healthy son.

Jahren goes on to gain success in her career and receives funding from numerous foundations. She eventually accepts a job at the University of Hawaii, where she currently resides with her family and Bill.

Throughout the memoir, Jahren focuses on her deep love of plants and of science. She notes: “I chose science because science gave me what I needed—a home as defined in the most literal sense: a safe place to be” (18). She remains dedicated to her work even through roadblocks of sexism in a male-dominated field.

Bill Hagopian

Bill Hagopian is Jahren’s friend and lab partner. To describe their sometimes difficult to label relationship, Jahren asks, “Are we siblings? Soulmates? Comrades? Novitiates? Accomplices?” (274). Throughout Jahren’s entire career, Bill remains at her side in a professional and personal capacity.

Bill receives his bachelor’s degree from U.C. Berkeley where he first meets Jahren, who is a T.A. on a summer expedition. He avoids the group during the trip, preferring to conduct his own experiments.When Jahren moves to Georgia, she invites Bill along with her. She does not have the funding to pay him very much, so Bill lives in his Volkswagen for a while after which he lives in the lab on campus.

When Jahren moves to Baltimore, Bill accompanies her once again and helps her build the new lab. Bill buys a row house and his lifestyle improves when Jahren is able to secure him more money. Eventually, he moves to Hawaii with Jahren and receives a full-time job from the University of Hawaii.

Throughout the memoir, Jahren describes Bill as eccentric, noting that “Bill lived pursued by the ghosts of his macabre ancestors, and it was they who continuously pressed him to build, plan, hoard, and—above all—survive” (60). Like Jahren, Bill is informed by his past. In addition to these characteristics, Jahren describes him as “the most patient, caring, and respectful teacher that [she has] ever seen in action” (111). He is very dedicated to both Jahren and his students and is always available to help.

Father Jahren

Jahren’s father is a science professor at a community college in Minnesota. He has a close relationship with his daughter and spends time with her in his lab. He also serves as an early scientific inspiration to her.