Farncombe
Phage

As if to celebrate my return from pat leave yesterday, the world was not content for me simply to bike in without any dismounts in the conservation area. No, today was action-packed: Ayesha (U)’s top-notch RIP, Tejas & Ayesha (A)’s thesis day presentations. What a celebration of the good science that went on without me… here’s hoping my return doesn’t mess anything up.

In a pattern of absenteeism (this leave, honestly!), I missed yet another sci-comm triumph at this year’s BBSRS. The main picture here is Tejas, an undergrad with his first ever poster (looking slick!) - but click through for Eve and Christine’s appearances as well!

Regrettably, Pat leave got in the way of me attending a rip-roaring RIP of Christine’s. On the bright side, it was so good (and she was proud enough of it) that she then walked me through the final version at our one-on-one… so I got a pretty good feel for it. Some serious scicomm chops here!

The image here is of a wonderful print gifted to me at my visit to UofT Mississauga yesterday. I think it’s the longest I’ve gone without giving a talk (this pat leave!) - but it went very well, despite the very very strange “UofT time” of the session (honestly, starting at 10 min after the hour? what?).

This is one of those “picture is worth 1000 words” - anything I add here will be a rounding error. We had a visitor today….

Christine and I were privileged to get to feature the incredible discoveries of not one, but two independent groups. It’s one of those wonderful situations where the two groups stumbled upon this, but were able to publish in the same journal, at the same time. And we get to spotlight them!

The first lab Solstice party at the new digs, and this… this is a lab group photo that can’t be beat: 10 lab children! You can click through for the older lab members too, if you like. As usual, we shared a potluck with traditional meals, exchanged Secret Santa Gifts, and the kids roped us into board games (Werewolf!). Next year, we’re going to need to set up a kiddy table for sure…

See, while the cat is away, the mice… still win prizes and represent the lab. Here’s our lab’s inaugural entry in the Gingerbread House Decorating Contest!

A phenomenal keynote. Alex asking surprisingly few questions of the speakers (if people didn’t know I was on new-baby-sleep-deprivation status, I think they’d be seriously alarmed). And our own Hynes lab showcase: That’s three quarters of the poster-presenting crew, with a tired, attempting-to-caffeinate Alex in the background. This IIDR was Niousha’s first ever poster, while Rabia presented her side-story for the first time (and won a prize for it). Plenty of pictures after the jump!

Things might be a little quiet ‘round here for a while. Not like ‘round here’ in the lab, or at home - but on the website, as our latest little one joined us last Friday - a wee bit early - and I’m starting a paternity leave. So far, Alex & Rita: 6, lab students/alumni: 4. A productive lab? :P