Jennifer Endres is the answer person in Dr. Ken Bayles’ lab at UNMC. When someone has a question, she’s the one they turn to. “I’ve been around for a long time, so I kind of know the ropes of the department a little bit,” she said.
In her nearly 20 years working in Dr. Bayles’ lab, her job title has changed—from technician to researcher to research coordinator, and she also picked up a master’s degree along the way—but her role has remained largely the same. Whether technician or coordinator, she has always focused on helping everyone who works in the lab do their job as effectively as possible.
“In our lab I help by placing orders, I help by making sure the equipment is working properly, I work with vendors when we order new equipment. I learn the technologies, I understand how the technologies work so we may be able to apply those to our research,” she said. “I also get to do my own research and study of bacteria, of staph aureus in particular. I kind of have my hands on everything, in little bits and pieces.”
Dr. Bayles called Endres the backbone of his lab. “She was my first hire, and I couldn’t have been more fortunate to have such a talented person help me start my research program here at UNMC,” he said. “Once she gained experience in my lab, she played a key role in maintaining the continuity of expertise needed to train new researchers, perform the ‘critical’ experiments, and to continue moving our research forward.”
Endres grew up in Polk City, north of Des Moines, and earned a bachelor’s degree at Iowa State University. Her fiance moved to Omaha to work for Union Pacific. “He lived here for a year before we got married. I applied for this job, went on my honeymoon, came back and interviewed and then started.” That was the fall of 2005, and back then the lab was in Poynter Hall. The lab moved to Durham Research Center II in 2009.
“And the only reason I remember that is I believe we moved in April, and I had my daughter in June,” she said, laughing. “She’s 16, she’ll be a junior at Papillion La Vista. And my son is 13.”
When not at work, she and her husband are hauling the kids around to their activities—swimming, baseball, dance class, tennis. “So we stay pretty busy,” Endres said.
“I’m kind of a mom in the lab, too,” she said. “I enjoy interacting with people, I enjoy the variety. I enjoy being on the bench and moving around. My desk is in the lab for a reason, so I’m accessible to people. And Dr. Bayles (who was her adviser for graduate school) has always given me the freedom to do the things that interest me on the bench, in science, and has been a great role model for how to respect and allow people to take the reins of their own careers and be successful.”