BRAVO! Summer 2023 by Jennifer L Cubeta https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye Biology Research Abroad: Vistas Open! en-us 2022-12-12 21:18:25 UTC 2023-10-20 20:06:50 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/2708.png April 10, 2023 cubeta https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2549202546 "This summer, I'm really looking forward to collaborating with other researchers from around the world and learning more about German culture. My project working with induced stem cells is extremely exciting, and I can’t wait to go hiking in the Black Forest!“

]]> 2023-04-10 19:56:19 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2549202546 April 10, 2023 cubeta https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2549203653 “I've never been to any other countries except for the States and my home country, South Korea, and I'm super excited to explore a whole new continent! Also, I grew up watching the European Premier League with my brothers which means traveling around the UK would be a huge fan-girl moment for me.” ]]> 2023-04-10 19:57:40 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2549203653 April 13, 2023 cubeta https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2553567871 This summer, I am very excited to be exploring a different specification of biomechanics that I have not been exposed to before; it is knowledge that I will be able to carry with me back to the U of A and into the future. I'm also looking forward to exploring a new area. I have never been able to travel as much as I would like, and this summer is an opportunity for a new adventure.]]> 2023-04-13 18:22:06 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2553567871 April 13, 2023 cubeta https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2553574794 I’m looking forward to meeting my foreign lab members and learning more about the developments of monkey brains and wireless electrodes! Outside of the lab, I’m most excited about the food in Lyon, especially its pastries. I can’t wait to try out all the food around the city and the country! ]]> 2023-04-13 18:28:23 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2553574794 Celtic Game !! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2600571341 I was lucky to get hold of the ticket for the Celtic game at the very last minute. After anxiously waiting for 40 minutes for the second goal to catch up with St. Mirren, I got to be part of the excitement as fans jumped out of their seats, letting out unified screams of joy the moment the goal was scored. I don't think I will ever forget this experience!]]> 2023-05-22 20:20:21 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2600571341 Weekend Paris trip! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2612899705 Last week, I learned that this past Monday was Whit Monday, a national holiday, in France and I went on a spontaneous Paris trip! I had so much fun and so much walking too :) I got to meet many people around the city as well! Despite the last-minute planning, everything went smoothly and the trip was successful! I didn't feel like Lyon is my new home in Europe for the first week, but this Paris trip made me realize that I am indeed in Europe and made me feel like Lyon is my new home. I'm so thankful to have this experience!

In the lab, I learned to code the behavior of the monkeys that are doing the tasks! I also got to see the animal facility at the institute and it gave me whole another perspective on monkey behavior training!]]> 2023-06-02 12:09:26 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2612899705 WCIP Retreat to Seamill, Scotland https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2620895337 Last Monday, the entire WCIP (Wellcome Centre Integrative Parasitology) took off to a two-day retreat  to Seamill, Scotland. The first photo in the top left corner shows the beautiful view from the large room where all the scientific talks and presentations took place. It felt very refreshing to be back near the ocean, as it is one of my favorite places to be. The beach in Seamill reminded of my home country, South Korea as the view looked very similar to Jeju island.
Although I had to use all of my brain power in order to comprehend the new accents combined with new scientific information, all the talks were highly informative and interesting. On top of that, experiencing the enthusiasm of many researchers in the field of parasitology reminded me of the significance of the work I have been engaged in over the past two years. During the poster sessions, I had the opportunity to learn more in depth about the specific projects Sheiner lab members were working on.

The picture on the top right corner is a picture of my first ever haggis, a traditional Scottish dish, which was served as the starter for our fancy three-course dinner. To me it tasted almost exactly like soondae, one of my favorite Korean street food. 

The picture on the bottom left is the picture all of us learning the Scottish traditional Ceilidh dances. It lasted over an hour leaving all of us were exhausted but it was so fun!! I felt like we all went back to our childhood. 

The picture of the bottom right is the picture of how the village of Seamill looked like. It seemed as though every household in Seamill had either a field full of cows or sheep.
This trip reminded me of how much I appreciate the nature and was overall an unforgettable experience!
]]> 2023-06-12 08:10:32 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2620895337 Farmers' Market!! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2627238884 This weekend I had the opportunity to explore uptown Waterloo as well as visit the local farmers' market! Here I really got an opportunity to observe and really feel like a part of the community. At the market there was a wide variety of different booths with individuals selling everything from food from their respective cultures to handmade wood carvings and pottery. For me this weekend really hit home just how many cultures are represented in the area surrounding Waterloo. 

In the lab, I started with meetings and really digging into and processing the currently collected data for the project with the intent of planning out how we want to improve and change our data collection methods in the coming weeks. I also got to tour the lab and visit some of the surrounding lab spaces on campus which gave me a broader scope on the type of research that can be done both in the fields of biomechanics and biomedical engineering. ]]> 2023-06-19 15:30:51 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2627238884 Birthday in Versailles! ryanbowser2 https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2628406180 Although my trip got off to a rocky start, I've really been enjoying myself, It feels like I've gotten to do so much and it hasn't even been one month!

I was able to see downtown Berlin (Brandenburg door, the TV Tower, the Reichstag, and Tiergarten) a few weekends ago and I went again with Nathan (my brother) when he came into town and visited. Nathan and I had an awesome time in France, it was my best birthday by far! I got to have a huge 7 course meal on the terrace of the hotel the night before, woke up to fresh baked croissants and cappuccinos, and then went on a run through the Versailles garden.

Working in the lab here has also been incredible, It feels so cool to be handling and doing experiments with actual human stem cells! I still can't actually comprehend that these cardiac cells I see beating under the microscope were skin cells living in someone's arm just a few months ago. The researchers here have also been extremely helpful and fun to talk with, having a beer with coworkers and socializing after work is really common here, so we went to a trivia night and got 2nd place!

I can't wait to see what the rest of the trip brings, this has already been the experience of a lifetime!]]> 2023-06-20 19:17:57 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2628406180 Londres et mises à jour en labo! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2632568641 Chloe and I met in London!! We saw Les Misérables live at Sondheim Theatre. Seeing Les Misérables live has been my dream since the first time I watched Les Misérables as a movie!! It still feels surreal!!

In the lab, I got some plots that I will analyze. I'm also almost done with monkey behavioral coding for the number spatial awareness task, which will also be analyzed! Additionally, I have been to multiple conference talks at the institute! The most interesting one for me was about the communication and pheromones of bees.]]> 2023-06-26 14:08:58 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2632568641 Spontaneous weekend trip to London with Sun! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2632622840
Sun and I made a very spontaneous weekend trip to London! We had no idea when we were waiting at Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony that we were actually waiting for the King’s birthday parade. It was so cool to see the royal family passing right in front of us with all the people chanting and clapping as they waved. I waited with a lady who had come down from Liverpool with her granddaughter just to show her the royal family. Of course, I knew that the UK continues to have its royal family, but watching this in real like felt very surreal. I felt as if I was in a fairytale - it was a pleasant surprise and a culturally eye-opening experience that wouldn’t have been possible without BRAVO!.

We also went to see the famous musical Les Misérables and had the opportunity to  meet the cast after the show which was such a memorable experience. I fell in love with Nathania Ong, who played Eponine that night!
]]> 2023-06-26 15:27:53 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2632622840 Visiting Amsterdam! ryanbowser2 https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2640659800 This past weekend I was able to visit Amsterdam with my friend Summer! We had an amazing time seeing the Van Gogh museum, I never knew that he began paining when he was ~30 years old, and in just ten years, he made over 500 paintings!! After this, we went to the inner city and enjoyed some hot waffles with blueberry syrup and white chocolate shavings (best meal of the trip) before going on a boat tour around the city. 

In the lab, I've been able to perform a bunch of experiments, and in my spare time I have been trying to learn new signal processing techniques for Python! There is this incredible algorithm called a wavelet transform that I think will be really helpful for filtering out noise. This upcoming week, I will be teaching a PhD student about Python and helping her write a ECG analysis software, which I am super excited for!

Truly, I'm livin' the dream, eating waffles and playing with computers!]]> 2023-07-07 22:25:37 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2640659800 Dr. Ferrari showed me his hometown! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2641709633 I went to Italy this past weekend with Dr. Ferrari! I saw Parma on Saturday and Bologna on Sunday. In Parma, we got gelato twice :) I also saw a beautiful cathedral and the theatre! We got samples of prosciuttos and parmesan cheese, which were SO good!! In Bologna, I had such good food and I went up to two towers to see the city view from the top.

In the lab, I'm finally learning imaging processing techniques and linear mixer model analysis! I'm excited to bring these techniques back to my Arizona lab to contribute more! Now I'm living in my paradise of researching and traveling! I can't believe this is still happening!!]]> 2023-07-10 09:04:47 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2641709633 Canada Day and hitting the trails!! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2646540333 In these past couple weeks I had the opportunity to celebrate Canada Day which I learned is for the most part very similar to our Fourth of July just without the blue. One of the parks near the university instead of doing fireworks put on a light show using drones which was really impressive! With the air quality improving after the impact of the wildfires I have also had the opportunity to walk some of the trails out here! 

In the lab, I have been working on building my own models and pipelines for processing the disc golf data and preparing it for statistical analysis. I've also been able to work with new motion capture equipment as we are determining which system we want to use moving forward and comparing the quality of markerless versus marker based motion capture. One of the members of lab just gave his masters defense, so I had the opportunity to sit in with other members of the lab to hear his defense and help him prepare for his final presentation for it. 

I have really enjoyed learning some of these new skills and techniques in lab! It's also been so nice to enjoy the cooler weather and amount of nature and greenspaces that exist around Waterloo!]]> 2023-07-17 18:02:57 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2646540333 Sheiner & Harding Lab Brunch ❤ https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2646556188 Sheiner and Harding lab work very closely with each other due to our shared focus on studying the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. On Thursdays, we typically have a joint lab meeting but last week all the postdocs and graduate students decided to go for brunch together. It has been such a great opportunity to work with these funny, sweet, and hardworking people! The bond between us feels more like close friends rather than mere coworkers. I would certainly miss the atmosphere of the tissue culture room, where everyone gathers, listens, and sings along to the same music while working hard on their own projects. ]]> 2023-07-17 18:54:49 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2646556188 Blue Jays Game! https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2654302058 This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a Toronto Blue Jays game with a group of people from my apartment complex. In their game against the Los Angeles Angels they won 6-1 with 5 of the runs being scored off of 3 homeruns that were hit that game. In waiting for the game to start I had the opportunity to explore the area of Toronto surrounding Rogers Centre. In doing this I got to visit the Toronto Railway Museum and CN Tower as well as walk around Lake Ontario and some of the parks in the area. During this trip I was amazed at how beautiful some of this area of Toronto and will never forget the cheers that rang through Rogers Centre with each homerun that was hit and when the game was over!]]> 2023-08-01 17:54:09 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2654302058 Adidas Night Run & Spy Museum! ryanbowser2 https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2654933523 In the past few weekends I was able to check out Berlin a lot more, and visit a bunch of the beautiful places that it has to offer! First I went on a long run around the largest lake in Berlin, and saw the neighborhoods of Neu Venedig! (Top left) It was a beautiful day with the sun shining, people were out in the canals on boats or riding paddle-boards and sitting by the shores reading and swimming. After the run, I went to relax at a sauna nearby and did some freezing but extremely refreshing cold plunges! 

In the German Spy Museum, I saw lots of WW1, WW2, Cold War, and modern day spy gadgets and got to read about German history. They also had a whole section on fictional spies, so I played with the interactive James Bond section (Bottom) and went home to watch From Russia With Love!

Finally, this weekend I went to the Adidas Night Run, which I signed up for when I first arrived, and ran the 10k! (Top right) There were almost 8,000 people who came to run the race, so it was a really fun and exciting energy to be surrounded with. In the end I finished with a 8:30 min/mi pace, which was a new PR, and I got to see the medal ceremony where 1st place gets an enormous 5L glass of beer! Overall, I'm still really loving Berlin and I'm so excited for the next couple weekends!]]> 2023-08-02 17:25:34 UTC https://padlet.com/cubeta/ycqi9tmzkvaz2pye/wish/2654933523