In the lab, Gardella is gregarious, even garrulous. He reviews research topics with graduate student Dan Hook, and gives Hook and others advice on landing a job, stressing the advantage of personal contact over a fancy resume. "The only way to get jobs is through personal contacts; the form of the resume doesn't matter," he says flatly. Sue Kovatch, at let, a Ph.D. candidate in Gardella's research group, stops him in the hallway. A teaching assistant for Chemistry 470, she needs keys to let her students into the lab. He also speaks with a visiting scientist from Belgium, one of his many international colleagues.