… that’s two talks in a row from my students that, despite my famously nit-picky ‘there’s always something that can be improved” approach to sci-comm, I just have to hand it to my students - in this case Rabia - that they don’t need me anymore. They’re out there, outperforming their boss. And, for the record? It’s awesome.
In today’s RIP, Félix really showed off what a senior PhD student can do if they continue to iterate on their narrative and their slides - this was a silky smooth story, superbly covering a lot of ground. Looking forward to conference season!
Ok, the alliteration may be tortured, but the run - the run was great. The lab website risks getting turned into a running blog, at this rate.
My first rematch. Last year's 30k was my first race ever, I had a blast, and I immediately knew I'd be back. A very different day; a bit warmer, beautiful sun, a harsher wind direction - you can definitely see the difference in this picture and the one I featured last year. A year of really consistent training, and I managed to beat my record by over 11 minutes, comfortably earning one of the coveted ATB gold medals for <2 h (Chip time 1:56:43). Had a fantastic time once again, and am incredibly proud of this. And... yeah, I'm doing it again next year.
In very exciting news for the lab, I just secured a grant to chase down what is possibly our weirdest (and coolest?) idea. It’s a unique kind of grant, a very impressive team, an unusual approach… in short, it’s going to be a blast. We’re looking forward to working with the other centre in Cork on this long-deliberated, finally-coming-to-fruition project that started at a brainstorming session in an airport hotel (pictured), pre-pandemic.
More on this in the coming weeks!
Lab cleanup - always a bit of an occasion! Whether it’s the novelty of the supervisor on his hands and knees scrubbing, or that fresh “clean pine” scent that lingers from a choice made by a student 5 years ago, or just proving that yes, we do actually have enough racks, thank you very much, we just needed to round them up… the benefits are innumerable.
In the oldest-running Lab tradition, I was once again able to host people for a Christmas potluck. We had delicacies from around the world. We held a Secret Santa (Pictured) - where once again, people are getting freakishly good at guessing who provided presents. We shared memorable stories of the year: From saying goodbye to a favourite car, to weddings, to learning to drive, to holding a pipette for the first time, to first trips out of the country ages, to moving in with a partner, to a stretch of sudden blindness - the good, the bad, the memorable.
Back to alliterations - all is well with the world. Tamina gave a great talk this morning, but also constantly impresses me with the fact that she’s not content to rest on her laurels. I think the last three of her talks have always involved major restructuring and reshaping of the underlying narrative - always looking for a new take on her project. Her PI, however, is stuck in a cycle of recycling old slides…
It doens’t really make sense to use the public-facing website for an in-comment (I hesitate to call it a joke) that will only mean anything to the lab… but hey, after 2 months of pestering, I finally bought them what they’ve needed. And my running backpack didn’t look comical at all on the way in, with these 8 beauties hanging off it…
My usual lab photographers/videographers were too busy running the event to get pictures, but thankfully Tamina thought to get a quick shot of Rabia in her brief respite, standing by her poster. This year, the trainee committee invited the wonderful Martha Clokie - so there was a phage theme right from the get-go, and Rabia, Gayatri & Félix all presented their work. Congratulations to the trainee organizers, who did a phenomenal job bringing us back to in-person meetings!
I ran the local half marathon this weekend, which was the culmination of a year of consistent running and training. I often joke that I’m running from my responsibilities (and have a lot of responsibilities to run from) - but it didn’t quite hit me how fast I could run from them until Sunday - apparently, I can run from them at 3:50/km for quite a long time…
But the responsibilities do always catch up eventually :P.
While I’ve kept the rest of the site up to date, the lack of photographic evidence of our many accomplishments since July means I just haven’t been on top of the front page. The one (and only!) drawback to not having a cell phone, I suppose. A new cohort of undergrads, a new bootcamp/cleanup day, talks, awards… well now reporting all that feels a little small in comparison to the latest big event - Gayatri’s wedding. Here are all the lab (sans undergrads) and our partners/families. I think this’ll be the lab picture for a while to come… how are we going to one-up this?
I just finished presenting at Viruses of Microbes 2022 - it was great! But my “controversial” statement that got a nice laugh at CSM had a very different reaction here at a phage conference - mostly a lot of heads nodding. Hah, I’m glad they agree!
Here is Rabia. You may not recognizer her; her eyes are open, she’s smiling… but the clear name on the prize for best poster should help identify her. Congratulations - well deserved!
The lack of updates hasn’t been because we’ve been idle - rather, too busy to update the site! Right now, the whole lab (yes, everyone! even the undergraduates, for today) are at my favourite meeting; the Canadian Society of Microbiologists, in Guelph. Today Rabia presented her competition poster, and I managed to get my first in-person talk in ages. Amazing how the nerves come back, and make it a completely different, energizing experience! Here’s a picture after the “All About Phages” session, with the speakers, keynote, and chair.
Covid has made a mess of things… in that tomorrow Janice is convocating from her undergrad, the day after she completed her MSc! Not only was it a truly masterful defence, we actually got to celebrate immediately after, in-person, with the whole lab (and a few tag alongs) going out for lunch. Congratulations Janice!
Yeah, we’re not going to top this one for news this month… year even. Today, Amany let us know that the long awaited (and slightly overdue - 40 w 4 d) Yusuf. Anything I say won’t matter… so here is a picture worth way more than 1000 words.
This week, we got to celebrate that Janice Tai was accepted to several medical schools, and seems to be leaning towards heading to UofT in the Fall. A good thing we planned for this, as she’s scheduled to defend her thesis the week after next! They grow up so fast…
Today was lab cleanup day - but rather than showcase the lab in all its glory (and it is, as always), I thought I’d share the lab team in all their glory - including our three incoming undergraduates, and our now-on-leave Amany (& Mohammed) who joined us for the customary lab-cleanup lunch… and in this case, we snuck in some baby-related gifts. Any day now, Amany!
This won’t turn in to some kind of running blog, I promise! But it is also not every day you run your first marathon, 4 weeks after your first ever race, and put in a convincing Boston-Qualifying time. Here I am at the finish line, looking “fresh” 3 h 3 min 48 s in… but if I shared a shot a split second before or after, well… it would be pretty clear I am exhausted. But, as a Marvel Super hero once said (and I paraphrase), “That’s my secret…. I am always exhausted.”
Just got Ashlyn’s bio and intro post up yesterday, only to find out today that she has been awarded an FHS RCI Summer Scholarship to cover her work term! I am lucky to have such exceptional students who continue to secure funding to help me free up funds to hire exceptional student who continue to… you get the drift!
Congratulations, Ashlyn!
