Going back to KBS and seeing the myriad student pictures and posters lining the hallway-- mostly people who have come through for summer jobs or programs, or perhaps a few years of graduate study-- made me realize that few, if any, of the people that come through this place have very large of an effect on it. In contrast, the impact KBS had on me, even as an inanimate entity that simply brings all those transients together, was profound. I had dinner with Idelle, Gary Mittelbach (the head of the lab where I worked 14 years ago), and Kay Gross (another professor, and now the director of the station). It was so fun to talk about the old days and some of the more prominent characters in the colorful, panoramic history of KBS. While visiting, I also got to go to seminar (given by Idelle on upcoming projects), hear about recent experiments going on in the ponds, and attend a lab meeting where they discussed a paper on the evolution of plant traits that optimize hummingbird pollination efficiency. In a way, it was like a little visit to my old life and, as much as I enjoyed it, it was also a pleasant confirmation that I enjoy the very different things that I work on now too. As always, it was fun to make Gary Mittelbach laugh-- a favorite pastime of mine in the lab in the summer of 1996. Idelle lives in the old gatekeeper's house which is beautiful (bottom left; the grounds of KBS used to be the summer estate of the Kellogg family), and visiting KBS for the first time in the winter provided the opportunity to see the beauty of this place in a new way-- on skis and covered in snow. It was such a cool combination of flashback and new experience, and provided a surprisingly harmonious feeling as I embark on my so-called career, now more in earnest. I doubt I will have many other chances to revisit intense and intensely fun past chapters of my life in this way, but I enjoyed doing so this time and highly recommend it if you have a similar opportunity. Thank you for such a lovely visit Idelle!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Flashback to 1996: The Land of Milk and Honey
Although my career as a biologist officially started about one year ago when I finished school and began my post-doc here in Texas, there was a brief period after college when I worked as a research assistant at several places all over the world while I decided what I wanted to do in graduate school. The first of these intense, and intensely fun, jobs was at Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan (bottom center). Last week, I had the unique opportunity to go back to this very special place because my dear friend Idelle (bottom right) is now a post-doc at KBS. When I was there, I used to refer to it as the land of milk and honey because I loved it so. My job consisted of fishing in lakes, snorkeling around the experimental ponds, and counting Daphnia in petri dishes in the lab. I had spent my childhood summers in Michigan as well, a few hours away on the beach on the great lake, and this first-job-after-college was about as close to that summertime bliss as one could find, while still earning a paycheck. Summer days are long in Michigan, and very romantic-- fireflies, local dairy-produced ice cream, and lots of time in lakes, which I love the most.
Going back to KBS and seeing the myriad student pictures and posters lining the hallway-- mostly people who have come through for summer jobs or programs, or perhaps a few years of graduate study-- made me realize that few, if any, of the people that come through this place have very large of an effect on it. In contrast, the impact KBS had on me, even as an inanimate entity that simply brings all those transients together, was profound. I had dinner with Idelle, Gary Mittelbach (the head of the lab where I worked 14 years ago), and Kay Gross (another professor, and now the director of the station). It was so fun to talk about the old days and some of the more prominent characters in the colorful, panoramic history of KBS. While visiting, I also got to go to seminar (given by Idelle on upcoming projects), hear about recent experiments going on in the ponds, and attend a lab meeting where they discussed a paper on the evolution of plant traits that optimize hummingbird pollination efficiency. In a way, it was like a little visit to my old life and, as much as I enjoyed it, it was also a pleasant confirmation that I enjoy the very different things that I work on now too. As always, it was fun to make Gary Mittelbach laugh-- a favorite pastime of mine in the lab in the summer of 1996. Idelle lives in the old gatekeeper's house which is beautiful (bottom left; the grounds of KBS used to be the summer estate of the Kellogg family), and visiting KBS for the first time in the winter provided the opportunity to see the beauty of this place in a new way-- on skis and covered in snow. It was such a cool combination of flashback and new experience, and provided a surprisingly harmonious feeling as I embark on my so-called career, now more in earnest. I doubt I will have many other chances to revisit intense and intensely fun past chapters of my life in this way, but I enjoyed doing so this time and highly recommend it if you have a similar opportunity. Thank you for such a lovely visit Idelle!
Going back to KBS and seeing the myriad student pictures and posters lining the hallway-- mostly people who have come through for summer jobs or programs, or perhaps a few years of graduate study-- made me realize that few, if any, of the people that come through this place have very large of an effect on it. In contrast, the impact KBS had on me, even as an inanimate entity that simply brings all those transients together, was profound. I had dinner with Idelle, Gary Mittelbach (the head of the lab where I worked 14 years ago), and Kay Gross (another professor, and now the director of the station). It was so fun to talk about the old days and some of the more prominent characters in the colorful, panoramic history of KBS. While visiting, I also got to go to seminar (given by Idelle on upcoming projects), hear about recent experiments going on in the ponds, and attend a lab meeting where they discussed a paper on the evolution of plant traits that optimize hummingbird pollination efficiency. In a way, it was like a little visit to my old life and, as much as I enjoyed it, it was also a pleasant confirmation that I enjoy the very different things that I work on now too. As always, it was fun to make Gary Mittelbach laugh-- a favorite pastime of mine in the lab in the summer of 1996. Idelle lives in the old gatekeeper's house which is beautiful (bottom left; the grounds of KBS used to be the summer estate of the Kellogg family), and visiting KBS for the first time in the winter provided the opportunity to see the beauty of this place in a new way-- on skis and covered in snow. It was such a cool combination of flashback and new experience, and provided a surprisingly harmonious feeling as I embark on my so-called career, now more in earnest. I doubt I will have many other chances to revisit intense and intensely fun past chapters of my life in this way, but I enjoyed doing so this time and highly recommend it if you have a similar opportunity. Thank you for such a lovely visit Idelle!
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Nice story Schaack, I love it: romance for you: insects, ice cream and a swim...classic.
ReplyDeleteHi Sis, Do you remember I visited you that summer?
ReplyDeleteYes it was Beautiful! We had nice walk in the woods. But what stands out in my memory was when we went to the grocery store... you wanted to treat to dinner...We bought ingredients for a beautiful fruit salad.....It came to $40.00. You nearly fainted... that is what you spent in a month in those days... You have come a long way baby!!! I love you, Mom
While Sarah was here, I heard that story about the $40 for groceries. It was wonderful to have you here, Schaack! We suspended time at beautiful moments during those few days, including standing on the frozen marsh as the sun set and listening for warning cracks under our feet, you sitting in the rocking chair enjoying a nice cup of Coca-Cola, and the intermittent whooshing of skis and then cracking of branches as I stood at the bottom of that curving, wooded hill and listened to you descend.
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