Lab Scientists Under the Microscope: Meet Ashlee Hubert

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).

Ashlee Hubert, biological administrator II, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

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

A lawyer.

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

From a young age, I was encouraged to be curious about science. In elementary school, I was in a club called Nature Bowl; we competed against other schools to see who knew the most facts about all aspects of nature. We also had a school garden that we took care of and hosted school festivals in. One of my favorite memories from the garden festivals was harvesting the wheat and turning it into a fresh tortilla that we grilled and ate with salt and butter. When applying to college, I decided I wanted to pursue science to eventually give back to the community in a manner similar to my experiences in elementary school.

What’s the most interesting, unique, disgusting (add your own adjective) specimen/sample/case you ever worked on?

One of the most disgusting things I’ve worked with is ice. It’s no secret ice can be gross, and boy is it!

What’s one thing you love about lab science?

I love that it allows you to be on your feet and working with your hands all day. It also allows you to work closely with your coworkers. As a people person, it can feel like hanging out with your friends all day while working. Spending most of my day at the lab bench surrounded by samples and people was always more appealing than sitting alone in front of a computer. Now that I’m out of the lab, I find any excuse to leave my desk and take a little walk around.

Laboratory science is serious work. What do you do to unwind in the lab? How about when you’re not working?

To unwind while I’m in the lab, I like to listen to music and talk with my coworkers. Over the last year, I have started going to yoga classes right after work to help me fully disconnect from the day before going home. It has also been a helpful stress-management tool.

What’s your favorite lab instrument and why?

My favorite lab instrument is the Bentley Somacount. This machine is an automatic somatic cell counter. In our lab, we test raw milk, and one of the tests is somatic cell counts. This test helps us determine how healthy a herd of cows is based on the number of white blood cells present in the sample. As someone who spent many hours looking into a microscope and manually counting the somatic cells for thousands of samples, this machine is an eye saver!

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

The Bluetooth speaker. I love listening to music when I’m working, and having access to a Bluetooth speaker means no commercials! Thank you, Spotify!