Congratulations to Tulip for passing her qualifying exams and becoming a doctoral candidate! She conducted her exam by Zoom and was a champ despite having to do things in several pandemic-adjusted ways. We’re looking forward to celebrating her next week!
A new (academic) year...
We’re excited (and maybe a little trepidatious) about a new academic year here at the University of Georgia. I (RRG) am teaching Cell Biology again (CBIO3400), which will be online. Though online teaching is a little disappointing, the course plan is really exciting and I’m looking forward to meeting a new cohort of students. I’m also teaching a small first year seminar on undergraduate research opportunities, so that will be fun. We have two ILS students joining us for the first rotation, Taylor Medlock and Justin McCurdy. We’re excited to have some new folks in the lab and have done a lot over the past several weeks to make training them easier and more effective (e.g. making training videos, reorganizing the lab). It’s an experiment but hopefully we’ll be able to give them a great training experience despite the pandemic still very active in our state! We’re taking a little hiatus from having new undergraduate trainees in the lab, but look forward to having some new undergrads join us in coming semesters.
Great news - NSF CAREER award!
I heard great news this week - our NSF CAREER Award has been funded! This will support the lab’s work on signaling in planarian regeneration over the next 5 years. It will also support many other cool educational and outreach efforts that we’re excited about. We’re eager to carry out these exciting research projects!
Summer updates
The lab has done a great job of making the best of our forced absence from lab due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Graduate student Jennifer has been working on a manuscript and presented her work virtually at the Society for Developmental Biology meeting. Graduate student Tulip has been working on preparations for her qualifying exam – writing a proposal and studying up on lots of interesting topics. Technician Britessia has been keeping the ship afloat! RRG presented the lab’s work at the Southeast Regional Society for Developmental Biology meeting, worked on a Perspective article for Science, and wrote a methods chapter. From March to June, we were only permitted to do essential work (e.g. keeping our planarians alive), but since June we have started to ramp back up and are now working at ~50% capacity. We are doing our best to prioritize experiments for a few projects that are close to completion. Everyone has done an excellent job in planning and being flexible. We are also making plans for rotation students this fall. Because of the extra challenges of social distancing, we are making training videos to supplement in-person training. We also have a fun idea for working on a review article as a group this fall. So stay tuned!
Congratulations UGA class of 2020!
Sending a big congratulations to our graduating lab alumni: Yamini Chavan, Princess Dikko, Alicia May, Lauren Thompson, and Jada Summerville. Each of these bright and wonderful women spent multiple semesters in the lab as an undergraduate researcher. And each is graduating from the University of Georgia today. I could not be any more proud. Yamini, thank you for bringing a constant dependability and organizational spirit to our group; I never had to worry about any undergrad deadlines when you were in the lab! Princess, thank you for your generous spirit and positive attitude. From the first day you walked into my office, you were always were a beacon of light in our lab and in my life. Alicia, thank you for your commitment and your ability to bring out the best in others. I always admired your focus and clear sense of purpose. Lauren, you possess a golden pair of hands (you can get almost anything to work!) and an unstoppable work ethic - a rare and wonderful combination. And Jada, you have blossomed into such a brilliant scholar and scientist. Your unshakeable determination, steady calm, and many talents will be huge assets in your future and to your lucky graduate advisor. (I’ll also miss your great book recommendations!)
Being your mentor and teacher has been a wonderful gift to me and it was a joy to watch you grow and develop as scientists. I’ll miss you lots, but I am so excited to watch you go out into the world and do big things. I wish I could celebrate this day with you, in person, as we had all planned. But know that I am with you in spirit, today and always. (I put a sign in my yard, too!)
