Lab Scientists Under the Microscope: Meet Michael Stevenson

In celebration of Lab Week 2025, we put a handful of laboratory scientists under the microscope, peppering them with questions that shine a light on their professional and personal lives. What were their career dreams as kids? How do they relieve stress when they hang up their lab coats and safety goggles? What do they wish we all knew about their jobs?

Each day of Lab Week, we’ll highlight one of these professionals and give you a peek at their passions and personalities, the things they love about laboratory science and the things they’d rather forget (we’re looking at you, disseminated strongyloides).

Michael Stevenson, microbiologist V, deputy lab director, New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

At first, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but after working at a pet hospital during high school, I realized that wasn’t the right vocation for me. I had always wanted to play the violin, and I got to do that from 6^th grade on—I majored in it (and in science) in college. I still play now in a community orchestra and with small groups.

If that’s different from what you’re doing now, what made you change course?

I didn’t want my musical outlet to be my dominant job, fearing burnout, so I chose the science path (which is an art, right?).

What was your first lab job?

My first lab job was at Butler University in Indianapolis during my undergraduate years. I worked at an on-campus environmental company where I collected rainwater and tree leaves to analyze for pH and ion balance as it related to acid rain monitoring.

Please tell me about the most interesting, unique, disgusting (add your own adjective) sample/specimen/case you ever worked on.

I worked at a start-up biotech company in Boston where I took fat tissue from human liposuction surgeries and isolated preadipocytes from them to perform high-throughput screening. The goal was to find the magical fat-reduction pill. Handling the tissue definitely encouraged one to maintain a healthy weight!

What’s one thing about lab scientists that you wish everyone else knew?

We put our pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else!

Laboratory science is serious work. What do you do to unwind in the lab?

I have a rubber brain I can fit in my hand and squeeze as my fidget toy!

What’s your favorite lab instrument and why?

Being an analytical safety geek, I like using the PortaCount Respirator Fit Tester for quantitative respirator fit testing—no bitter taste or smell to mess with for qualitative fit testing!

What’s your favorite non-science item in your lab?

I plant miniature sunflowers in pots on my windowsill and enjoy watching them sprout and bloom, and then I start over again with more seeds, all year round!

What’s the last book you read? Thumbs up or down?

I just finished reading Amor Towles novel, “The Lincoln Highway.”  It was a wonderful, character-driven story that I could not put down—even if it really didn’t have anything to do with the Lincoln Highway itself (that’s going to be the sequel, I hope!).