Well, most of the 2016 was spent writing grants and manuscripts. This particular activity is continuous and does not have much to discuss. I am afraid that all I say to my family members is "I am writing". I also spent the year traveling as part of the collaborative projects I am working on. There were trips to Pacific Northwest National Lab and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and quite a handful of conference related trips. The later part of 2016 was devoted to sampling soils and pore-water as part of a mammoth 40-day rainfall experiment at LEO. This was a massive effort on the part of the team, and a great learning opportunity for us when collaborating on a project.
There has been a lot of effort from my end to secure grants and get my projects going. It has turned out favorably with additional insights to the objectives of my work. 2017 has already started with a flurry of activities. I have an intern working with me who is busy extracting DNA from the LEO soils. I am working on my manuscripts and getting involved in a citizen-science project! Exciting times to be doing what I am doing! For the love of science and a passion for curiosity!!