Welcoming NSURE student Jazmine Dent to the lab for the summer. She comes to us from Towson University. And welcoming James Gaither back to the lab for a second summer!
Congratulations to Taylor Medlock Lanier for passing her Qualifying Exam!
Congratulations to Taylor for passing her Qual this week and advancing to doctoral candidate. Taylor’s committee asked her lots of tough questions and she did a nice job of thinking on her feet and working through each question with poise. She even managed to keep her sense of humor and got her committee to laugh a few times! We’re excited to have these two students perform so well on their exams and now we’ll focus on research, writing, and career development (and a little rest!) for the summer.
Celebrating our newest doctoral candidate. L to R: Bidushi (Tulip), Rachel, Jen, Alejandra, Kendall, and Taylor.
Taylor with her decorated desk!
Congratulations to our newest doctoral candidate, Kendall Clay!
Graduate student Kendall Clay completed her qualifying exam yesterday. She did a wonderful job, sharing her ideas very clearly and answering lots of thought-provoking questions with grace, curiosity, and ease. Her thorough preparation and intelligence were on full display and she showed mastery of her project. I tell my students I prefer to view the qualifying exam as a checkpoint to make sure you have a great foundation on which to continue your studies toward a Ph.D. and Kendall passed that milestone with flying colors! Onward!
Kendall with her desk - decorated by labmates.
Post-qual lunch and cupcakes at Viva Argentine. From L to R: Rachel R-G, Jen Jenkins, Kendall Clay, Taylor Medlock-Lanier, and Bidushi Chandra.
Happy Graduation Day!
Several lab alums graduated from UGA on May 13. We celebrated the graduation of Rachel Grimes, former undergraduate researcher and current lab staff, this past week. Rachel spent 6 (!) semesters in the lab, which is a new R-G lab record for undergraduate students. Rachel graduates as a Cell Biology major and will attend the Medical College of Georgia in the fall. Raag Patel and Anusha Jain (former undergraduate researchers) also graduated, and will attend Medical College of Georgia and Dental School at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (FL), respectively. Congratulations to Rachel, Raag and Anusha!
Our high school researcher, Ariel Robinson, will also graduate from Clarke Central High School on May 26. Congratulations, Ariel!
Lab dinner at 5&10. From L to R: Rachel Grimes, Taylor Medlock-Lanier, Bidushi Chandra, Alejandra Gonzalez, Andres Villalobos, Jen Jenkins, Kendall Clay, and Rachel R-G.
Student Employees of the Year Banquet
Today, we celebrated our undergraduate researcher and student employee, Rachel Grimes, at a banquet for student employees of the year. Rachel was an undergrad in the lab in 2019-2020 and then came back last year as a technician and to help with a few more projects. She has been an extremely valuable group member, contributing both scientifically through her individual research and as a team member and colleague. She is headed off to medical school next year and we will miss her lots!
So grateful for Rachel and her time in the lab!
Kind of wanted to take the bulldog back to the lab with us!