Their work varies from lab to lab and technician to technician. Senior technicians work independently. They provide continuity and keep labs humming when their professors are away. Their intimate knowledge of their subject frequently can shorten the time it takes for new graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to become productive researchers. If you're not nurturing them, then you're in trouble.
Technicians enter a lab for different reasons.
Many are young scientists seeking a few years' experience and a good recommendation toward graduate or medical school. Some decide to make it a career. She discovered that a research technician may be a dead-end job, but at least one still gets to do research. Currently, Tucker works part time for MBL in Woods Hole and part time on a field project in Alaska. It's frustrating to have to get funding year after year.