Halloween has come and gone with our usual department fun. The CBSA holds an annual pumpkin carving contest. It’s always fun to see people carve their first ever pumpkin, and it’s more fun to see what a bunch of scientist will come up with for designs.
Kelly also brought in a special Halloween treat for Brenda, our undergrad student who hopes to enter medicine. Brenda can now combine her candy eating and anatomy lessons. Guess she is ready for med school….
It has felt like a very long hard road to Azra but the work has paid off! Her first publication was accepted this week! We tried to give Azra the honor of popping the champange cork since it was her first paper but Ben just couldn’t help but jump in. Since the paper concludes work he started several years ago we decided the celebration is for him too. A paper in Journal of Cell Biology is a pretty good start for the lab!
Brenda has decided to join the lab for a portion of the summer. After a volunteering position in Brazil she came back to Edmonton to share her stories with us. Now we all have a sudden urge to make a trip to Brazil. Thank you to AIHS for providing the funding for Brenda’s summer position.
Biplab spent a large portion of the spring working on his candidacy and on July 22 he sat his exam. The lab is thrilled to announce Biplab successfully passed his candidacy exam and is now officially a PhD student.
Last month Kelly took Biplab and Judit to Edmonton’s Tattoo Show at Northlands. She figured it was time for them to learn more about the wonderful world of tattoos. Kelly tried hard to convince both Biplab and Judit to get their first tattoos but was unsuccessful. We even tried to use Judit’s dislike of washing test tubes to convince her by making a deal – we will create a lab tattoo and anyone who gets it will never have to wash test tubes again.
The holiday break is fast approaching and the lab has been enjoying the fun things that come with the season. Kelly and Judit headed to the Edmonton Valley Zoo to enjoy their light and ice display. It might be a small zoo but it was still fun!
The lab also attended the Department Christmas Party. It was a great chance to socialize with our co-workers and just relax for an afternoon. Azra, who helped to organize and MC the party, is being charged with fixing the door prizes since Kelly was the first winner!
The Montpetit Lab joined in the annual Pumpkin Carving Contest hosted by the Cell Biology Students Association. For a very small fee the Association supplies the pumpkins, carving tools, pizza and pop. It is always a good time and for many international students it is the first time they have ever carved pumpkins. The pumpkins are then put on display and judges determine the winners.
Judit carved her first ever pumpkin and did a fantastic job of it. She was one of the prize winners!
Biplab carved his second pumpkin ever and did a fantastic job!
October has been a good month for the Montpetit Lab.
Judit Voros joined our lab October 1st as our first Post Doctoral Fellow. We are very happy to have her expertise in the lab and look forward to a great working relationship!
Welcome to the lab Judit!
The Cell Biology Students Association also hosted their Research Day on October 6, 2014. Azra was one of three students selected to give a talk. Biplab was one of three students awarded a “Best Poster Presentation Prize”.
We try hard as a lab to follow all the safety rules but one of the biggest challenges has been the lack of a convenient lunch room. That changed this week when we moved in our new table and chairs! We now have a spot right outside our lab door to store our drinks and enjoy our snacks. We can now step outside, enjoy a quick drink or two and go back to work without having to go through several sets of doors or down a flight of stairs. The nicest part about our new table – it faces a wall of windows so we can enjoy the sun!
Last Friday Ben was away on holidays so the rest of us decided to take the afternoon off. We headed downtown to check out the Taste Of Edmonton. The weather was gorgeous while we enjoyed foods from all sorts of restaurants. Might have to make this yummy event a yearly lab outing!
The strange looking building is the Edmonton Art Gallery. It is right across the street from an LRT station so it’s really easy to get to.
