Congratulations to Mariana Rius on the publication of a big chunk of her dissertation work! Very exciting to have this out. The fruit of long efforts supported by the Experimental Model Systems program of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and a wonderful collaboration with Josh Rest’s lab at SBU and John Archibald’s group at Dalhousie.
https://academic.oup.com/gbe/advance-article/doi/10.1093/gbe/evad029/7048456?utm_source=advanceaccess&utm_campaign=gbe&utm_medium=email
Sabrina gave an amazing talk and successfully defended her dissertation earlier this month. Really proud to send her off to bigger and better things. 
(and a big Thank you to Anbarasu Karthikaichamy for wonderful photos!)
On her new position at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)!!!
Woohoo!
Recently out in Protist –
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2021.125793
Congratulations to (nearly Dr.!) Sabrina Geraci-Yee @sabrinargy and the whole team – what an accomplishment!
Mariana did a terrific job defending her dissertation
Evolutionary origins, regulation, and function of carotenoid biosynthesis in the marine heterotrophic eukaryote, Aurantiochytrium limacinum
this January*, and has cool papers coming out soon.
I’m happy to have her staying as a postdoc in the lab for a few months, and then am eager to see where she lands next. Way to go, Mariana!
*I’m much less late with this one than with Kylie’s. But still some catching up to do!
Who did an amazing job defending her dissertation,
Ecology of nitrogen-removing microbial communities and applications to wastewater treatment
this past fall*, and will have lots of great papers coming out soon.
I’m eager to see what nifty postdoc opportunity she lines up, and where she goes from here.
*Yes, I am late with this (I’m sorry Kylie! better late than never, right?), and with other announcements I’ll try to catch up on, but let’s start with this one.
…will be to use the resources compiled by #Strike4BlackLives and #ShutDownSTEM and 500 Women Scientists to fill in the details of my plans to participate in this critical moment in a way I can sustain long-term.
I will curate my social media contacts to better engage and amplify voices that need to be heard; decide how best to invest my financial support in organizations pushing for change; and take a fresh look for ways I can help fix the leaky (or is it clogged?) pipeline limiting diversity in STEM.
Little step one, this morning I followed through on my vague plan – formed based on hearing him on BookTV – and bought a copy of Frank Wilderson’s @b_wilderson new book Afropessimism, which will be top on my reading list as soon as it arrives.
Statements from a few of the scientific societies I belong to: ESA and ESA’s Black Ecologist Section, Sigma Xi, American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Cell Biology, American Association for the Advancement of Science
And I’m sure I missed others. Let’s make the world a better place.
We’re all sorely missing the annual big-giant-super-crowded URECA poster session in the SAC ballroom, but that doesn’t lessen the accomplishments of these fabulous young people. Check their posters out and leave comments/questions for them!
Also at the Honors College symposium:
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/honors-college/academics/honors-college-senior-symposium-2020.php
https://voicethread.com/myvoice/thread/14388228/89111543
https://auth.voicethread.com/myvoice/thread/14410623/89297623
Special recognition to graduate students Mariana Rius, Sabrina Geraci-Yee, and @KylieLanglois for mentoring these young scientists. Thank you!
The first publication from her dissertation work – part of a collaborative manuscript involving the whole Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Experimental Model Systems crew – is now out!
SBU Researchers Collaborate on Genetic Tool Development in Marine Protists
