Celebrating my final day with I-DEEL – thank you for an amazing year!
On the first day of March, 2016, I was invited to meet the I-DEEL team. Nervously prepared for an interview, I was instead greeted by a smiling Shinichi, Losia, Rose, and Dan, who immediately welcomed me to their group and their first lab meeting of the year. Throw in a lunch date with Rose, and I knew I had stumbled across a very special group of people, who have been nothing but inclusive and encouraging, and have continued to impress me with their skill, knowledge and determination for the following twelve months.
The past year has been somewhat of a whirlwind for me. I remember my induction at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. I remember meeting Daniel Hesselson and his lab group, claiming my desk, and feeling slightly overwhelmed. I remember being shown around the Biological Testing Facilities (BTF), struggling to catch my first zebrafish, and feeling at peace the first time I saw their developing embryos. I remember meeting the BTF team, and being shown an empty room that was full of potential and eager optimism.
The past year has been somewhat of a whirlwind for me. I remember my induction at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. I remember meeting Daniel Hesselson and his lab group, claiming my desk, and feeling slightly overwhelmed. I remember being shown around the Biological Testing Facilities (BTF), struggling to catch my first zebrafish, and feeling at peace the first time I saw their developing embryos. I remember meeting the BTF team, and being shown an empty room that was full of potential and eager optimism.
Our laboratory, May 2016 – After a quick tidy up and sourcing some new equipment.
That empty room quickly engulfed my time spent at Garvan. When I wasn’t helping Rose maintain her growing zebrafish collection, or learning the fragility of molecular work the hard way, my time was spent transforming that room into a fully-functional laboratory. Designing floor plans, negotiating with suppliers and liaising with engineers. Enduring the frustration of incorrect, delayed, or completely absent deliveries. Remedied by my enthusiasm to organise, colour coordinate and ‘go label-maker crazy’. It was a big project. Exasperating at times, but overall gratifying. And I feel honoured that I could have contributed to it.
Our laboratory, November 2016 – Our room is now fit with incubators to control the developmental temperature of our zebrafish, a new desk and equipment to measure zebrafish larvae activity, a respirometer to measure zebrafish metabolism, and a custom built filming platform (thanks to the engineering department at Garvan) to quantify adult zebrafish behaviour.
With a background in animal behavioural studies, my research contributions were focused on developing a high-throughput behavioural screening assay that we could use to rapidly quantify zebrafish behaviour and personality. My interests in information technology, video editing and computer animation meant I was completely in my element. Hours upon hours were spent compiling digital assays, rendering videos, troubleshooting tablets and familiarising myself with the finer details of EthoVision. By October, the methods were finalised and Rose was applying them to her PhD.
Throughout the year we have welcomed many new faces. Fonti, who is conducting her PhD, Takuji and Harry, our two interns, and Marissa, who we were lucky to have helping us over the past summer. We have also been blessed to meet and work with the staff at The Garvan Institute. A special thank you to BTF members Jennifer Brand and Michael Pickering, and engineers Mark Irons and Myall Quint, to whom our laboratory would not have been completed without – your contributions and continuous support were deeply appreciated.
Finally, I wanted to say thank you to everyone at I-DEEL, for welcoming me into your group and giving me this opportunity. I’m going to miss being a part of the team! I wish all of you the best of luck with your future endeavours.
While my time working at The Garvan Institute has come to an end, my contributions to I-DEEL are not yet over. From here, I am going to write and publish a paper detailing our novel approach to rapidly quantifying adult zebrafish personality – so stay tuned for more!
Throughout the year we have welcomed many new faces. Fonti, who is conducting her PhD, Takuji and Harry, our two interns, and Marissa, who we were lucky to have helping us over the past summer. We have also been blessed to meet and work with the staff at The Garvan Institute. A special thank you to BTF members Jennifer Brand and Michael Pickering, and engineers Mark Irons and Myall Quint, to whom our laboratory would not have been completed without – your contributions and continuous support were deeply appreciated.
Finally, I wanted to say thank you to everyone at I-DEEL, for welcoming me into your group and giving me this opportunity. I’m going to miss being a part of the team! I wish all of you the best of luck with your future endeavours.
While my time working at The Garvan Institute has come to an end, my contributions to I-DEEL are not yet over. From here, I am going to write and publish a paper detailing our novel approach to rapidly quantifying adult zebrafish personality – so stay tuned for more!
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