Yup, for about a year and a half I was a paid undergrad researcher at with my own part of the puzzle: isolating RFP and GFP genetic sequences from Japanese thermophilic cyanobacteria. I kept my own notebook. Got samples. Worked it out on paper, and through three beta programs. Powerpointed it. Grew cultures. Ran PCR. Refined ligating sequences. Ordered them myself. Visited professors at two other universities (Mills), Stanford and UC Davis. Imagined my research was for all the best uses.
I did not get to keep my meticulous notebook, that goes to science. These are my remaining souvenirs: my PCR gel polaroids. The top photo says #1 on the back.