I had the great fortune to play a small part in a massive collaboration led by Ted Schultz. Sequencing of almost 300 ants species and 400 cultivars and phylogenetic investigation reveal when key innovations arose in the ants’ agricultural lives. Most notably, at least judging by headlines, is that the agricultural system began to flourish right at the time that catastrophic environmental changes were leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Ants 1 – Big Lizards 0. 

While in Brazil for fieldwork, I had the opportunity to celebrate the paper with some other authors and collaborators. We missed Ted, but we sent him a picture of the cake!

Former postdoc Aileen Berasategui recognized something weird about science training in the United States. There is little tradition, little pomp and circumstance surrounding a PhD defense. She decided to change this. We now have a silly but wonderful tradition. We make each PhD student a graduation hat. Each ridiculous hat features their study system, inside jokes and the things that we love about the person. Making these hats is so much fun, in part because it involves a lot of glitter and hot glue!

Twenty five years ago, the Dalai Lama formed a partnership with Emory University. This partnership has led to the development of two programs centered on compassion training and the Emory Tibet Science Initiative. I first went to India to teach introductory biology to a group of Tibetan Buddhist Monks five years ago. I now have the privilege of co-leading a program, with Robin Nusslock, to help monastics develop research skills. This year, eight groups of monastics conducted research projects in India, focusing on cognitive neuroscience and public health. Monastic scholars at Emory also conducted research in my lab alongside Zoe Zimmerman. 

I have learned so much from these brilliant monastic scientists. I’ve learned how to better appreciate the world around me, how to view more of the world through a lens of compassion and how to slow down when teaching across languages and cultures. I look forward to the next phase of the ETSI program.