MEM-C caught the ferry to San Juan Island and headed to UW’s Friday Harbor Labs (FHL) this week for the All Hands meeting and retreat. The meeting was held September 4th through the 6th and there were over 50 MEM-C participants in attendance: 30 graduate students, 6 postdoctoral scholars, and 20 faculty members. The meeting included poster sessions, research talks by students and postdocs, education and outreach meetings, professional development, and strategy sessions. Most importantly, the retreat carved out lots of time for MEM-C participants to get to know each other in order to inspire future research collaborations!
Several honored guests join this year’s meeting. UH’s MRE-C PREM Director, Prof. Godwin Severa, Sustainability Thrust Lead, Prof. Przemek Dera, and AI Thrust Lead, Prof. Joseph Brown, joined their MEM-C collaboators at All Hands. Their effor to make the trip also provided the opportunity to have PREM-specific strategy sessions and presentations. Additionally, MEM-C External Advisory Board member and WSU faculty Prof. Kevin Kittilstved traveled across the state to attend the entire meeting. The meeting also provided the opportunity for MEM-C’s evaluator team, led by Erin Carll from UW CERSE, to introduce the evaluation plan to the entire center and launch the first-year internal assesment survey.
Another special aspect of this year’s meeting was a welcome and information session given by FHL Director Megan Dethier followed by FHL docent-led tours of Friday Harbor Lab’s marine biology facilities. Also, the Outreach Director at FHL, Michelle Herko, and MEM-C Education Director, Andrea Carroll, had a meeting during the week for information and best practices sharing. This allowed the MEM-C All Hands meeting to be more place-based and inspired all kinds of wonder and appreciation for the land, critters and people that make FHL such a wonderful place.
