Hi friends :)
There’s lots of things happening this week, let’s count ‘em out and start small.
There’s lots of things happening this week, let’s count ‘em out and start small.
Personally, I found out on Wednesday that I really do have a cat allergy. I also had trace reactions to oak and lamb quarters pollen but I can no longer live in denial that my fuzz babies, especially my Margy girl, are the environmental element making me sneeze. Raise your hand (ie, leave a comment) if you’ve had allergy shots and if you think they were worth it. I’m looking forward to the day the shots take effect, but until then wish me luck and lots of tissues. |
Locally, this will be the first non-football weekend at Penn State since the fall semester began in August. I’ll be taking advantage of the reduced traffic in the area by going apple picking with my love and to the Biology Department’s Welcome Back Party at Tussey Mountain. Also, if we expand “local” to the general eastern United States, then we can count my first Skype A Scientist meeting of the semester. I got to chat with some pretty cool kids in Sparta, Missouri yesterday and they asked a bunch of really great questions about what I do in my scientist life. I <3 Skype A Scientist.
Before I mention events at the national level, I wanted to point out that Global Climate Strikes will start today and continue through the next seven days. You can click the link to find and RSVP to events near you, and show your love and support for Big Momma Nature and all she has gifted to us and our fellow Earth inhabitants. Hopefully you amped yourself up by hoisting your personal jolly roger and spending yesterday Talking Like A Pirate. |
Ok, let’s scale it back down to national happenings. It is National Postdoc Appreciation Week. For those of you who are not in academia or related areas, postdocs are people who have finished their Ph.D. and are continuing their training in research areas of their interest. Post doc positions are considered pretty standard in the STEM academic job timeline, and it’s not uncommon to hold several postdocs between your Ph.D. and official professorship.
My lab is privileged to have three and a half postdocs at the moment (one is shared with another Biology lab at Penn State), and I admire each of them so much. Each of them is pursuing her research interests, conducting experiments, mentoring the grad and undergrad students, promoting mental health and work-life balance, publishing their studies, and putting together materials for academic job searches ALL AT THE SAME TIME. |
This is my final year of graduate school and the last semester that all three and a half postdocs will be with the Perry Lab. In fact, this is our half post doc’s last day! I don’t want to get all mushy on you, but the idea of Kathryn Turner and Christina Bergey starting their own labs within the next few months makes me emotional in all the ways. So does potentially sharing my “Good-bye Penn State” party with Stephanie Marciniak and Katie Grogan. I wish I could work with these four amazing people every day forever. I cannot wait to see all the ways they make science better for everyone. Your future mentees are so lucky to have you, and I hope they appreciate and respect y’all as much as I do. Cheers my friends, cheers to you and your science!
I honestly don’t know how they do it all, and am of the opinion that appreciation for everything they do should extend much further than just one week in September.