Anyhow, you may be wondering what caused this earthquake.  Well, it looks like we did.  “Recent earthquakes in Ohio and Oklahoma have been directly linked to deep wells used to dispose of liquid wastes for hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” of natural gas, according to geological experts“.  This is happening in other places too, like Oklahoma and England.  This is extremely frightening, and I’m surprised I haven’t heard much of a public outcry over it.  Maybe people are getting complacent about how we are ruining our planet…hopefully not.

Starting a new job in December is tricky.  You don’t really have any vacation days available, and you don’t really want to start off a new job taking vacation anyhow, but everyone wants a few days off for the holidays (and my brain needed it).  The place I work is closed very few days since it is not as strictly tied to the university’s semesterly schedule, so I was sure I would get no break.  As it turned out, everyone in the lab was taking vacation, and since I am still in the “watching and learning” phase and not the “touching anything” phase, I was able to spend a week working from home.  I got a lot done but was still able to recharge my battery like I needed.  Yay!

Hope everyone had a nice holiday!  Happy new year!

I have to say, playing dress-up or not, there is something really weird about seeing yourself in a big, fluffy wedding dress…

It was awesome, but this guy REALLY thinks double rainbows are awesome…

As I mentioned, some of my family came down for my graduation celebration.  It was super fun and action packed!  We shopped, we ate, we had a beach party, had a dinner party, and overall just enjoyed each others company.  Here are some highlights from the weekend.  Thank you to everyone who made it down!

So after a short blogging hiatus, I am back to share my exciting news.

In October I defended my dissertation (and passed!), and a little over a week ago, I graduated with my doctorate from FAU.  Many of my family members came down from Ohio for the celebration (pictures to follow soon).  We had a blast!

Last week I started my new job as a postdoctoral research at the University of Miami.  I am working in a chemical senses laboratory looking at the taste system.  The taste system looks and functions quite similarly to the olfactory system (which I studied for my doctorate).  Even though much of what I learned about the olfactory system will still apply when I investigate the taste system, I will be researching mammals now instead of sharks and learning some really cool, sophisticated techniques.  This job will show me a very different aspect of research, teach me new techniques that will make me a more marketable job candidate in the future, and help me hone my professional goals further.

I have already started to learn the basics of growing cells in culture….. a far cry from my previous research!  Wish me luck!  It will be an exciting journey.