I really enjoyed this article about my glorious state’s new senator, Michael Bennet. It paints the picture of a talented generalist, a man who’s delved into the uppermost levels of a number of different fields. Bennet has gone from law school to finance to the mayor’s staff to Denver schools superintendent to US senator, apparently making seamless transitions along the way.

Bennet’s career resonates because I admire his ability to transfer his skills to new situations. Before making millions of dollars for a prominent Denver businessman, Bennet had never seen a balance sheet, and prior to his job as the head of Denver schools, he had no background in education. Without knowing much about him, it’s clear that his true gift is not necessarily technical expertise, but in how he thinks about and solves problems.

I’ve always resisted the pressure to be pigeon-holed as a particular type of a group of a subsection of scientist; the more prefixes in your job description (biogeochemist might just take the cake), the harder it is to pursue other interests. In an age when specialization seems to be a one-way street, it’s often hard to make a case for why someone with less job-specific training might be the right person to do that job. The best hope may be the drive toward interdisciplinary study, the understanding that cross-ferilization often yields the most unexpected and innovative results. I also believe that horizontal thinking and the constant stimulation of new problems keeps us all on our toes, more dynamically engaged with our work.

And if you keep your options open, you might just be picked to be a senator some day…