Lab Scientists Under the Microscope: Meet Suzanne Stanton

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).

Suzanne Stanton, biomonitoring coordinator, chemist V, Vermont Department of Health Laboratory

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

I wanted to be a veterinarian or the first woman president of the United States. Either one would have worked for me.

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

I worked as an auto mechanic during the decade following graduation from college (I majored in women’s studies and history). After experiencing a lot of back issues and struggling with my coworkers, I decided to pick up the prerequisites required for admission to veterinary school. I figured if I could fix my cars and my pets myself, I’d be all set. This process included chemistry courses, which I LOVED, especially organic chemistry. Because I was already in my mid-thirties (and veterinary school is a pretty intense, long-term commitment), I decided to go with organic chemistry and I got a second bachelor’s degree and a master’s.

What was your first job?

My first job was as kennel staff for an animal hospital. I cleaned poop mostly. Sometimes I would find a note on a kennel door that said, “save stool,” but I had never heard poop referred to as “stool,” so I was quite confused about where this stool was.

What was your first lab job?

My first lab job was as a technician at the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory. I once again found myself dealing with poop, also known as “stool,” apparently, as I autoclaved bacteriology samples, made media for the microbiologists and maintained the equipment. It was a great way to get in the door at the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory, but I am a chemist at heart and found much of my job far too smelly and complicated. I could not speak “microbiology” with all its fancy organism names. My plan was to get my master’s in organic synthesis and then get a job doing pharmaceutical research. But I shifted to the chemistry department at the Vermont lab, fell in love with public health and made a career of it!

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

Well, there were many disgusting things I had to deal with as a microbiology technician. We test for rabies at my lab and my job was to clean the rabies lab tools—little hatchets and hammers and so forth. These tools smelled like what I imagine a bloody wet dog would smell like, and when I was pregnant I absolutely could not tolerate that smell. I solved this issue by putting my officemate’s very strong-smelling floral hand lotion onto bits of tissue and shoving the tissue right up my nose. Worked great!

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

I unwind by watching British crime shows and doing jigsaw puzzles or gardening. Cleaning actually helps a lot, too. Sometimes when I’m feeling internally messy, cleaning my physical environment helps me sort things out and feel more grounded. I also unwind at bedtime by reading fiction. I love to read, and it helps me separate my mind from the day gone by so I can sleep soundly.

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

We had a potluck party this past January (8th) for Elvis Presley’s birthday. To decorate the place, I got some life-size Elvis cutouts representing each stage of his career. They are spectacular, although I had to put them away because I kept getting startled by them, especially the Flaming Star Elvis.