Another exciting new year for the lab. I remain in Australia on sabbatical. We’ve settled into a routine where I communicate with the lab every morning in Australia, which corresponds to the afternoon in Madison. With ubiquitious cellular data and wifi almost everywhere, I can talk, see, and chat with people in my lab as easily from Melbourne as from Madison. There are just a few hours each day where one or the other site is sleeping. If anything, this experience is helping people in the lab be more independent and focusing my attention on the lab business that is most important.
At this time of year, prospective grad students might be visiting my site. I encourage you to read my musings on grad school and look at my research topics. I obviously won’t be able to meet with you in person during recruiting visits. I might consider taking a new student in Fall 2019. I’m particularly interested in students with a passion for genomics and/or virology and strong interest or aptitude in bioinformatics.