If you're reading this because you found my story of being inspired by a bug collection, hi! I ended up working on ocean-bugs, but I'm still that same passionate, nerdy 4 year old at heart.

If you are one of the hundreds who reached out to share a personal story of the mentorship moment that changed your life, THANK YOU. I'm vaguely horrified by all of this attention, but hearing so many stories of scientists making a genuine difference fills my heart with hope. My lab-mates and I have spent days regaling one another with the comments that resonated with us. 

If you'd like to do something wonderful, please consider supporting one of the scientific outreach organizations making a difference to children right now! This could be a museum or science outreach center in your neighborhood, or:

SkypeAScientist (https://www.classy.org/give/350351/#!/donation/checkout) - I've been working with this amazing site for years now, bringing scientists live into classrooms via Skype or Zoom to show children that people from all kinds of backgrounds and places can be scientists! I've worked with students from kindergarten through high school over the years. We get to work with teachers to tailor our presentations and discussions to whatever the class is focused on at that moment. My favorite thing is the off-the-wall questions I get (how fast do lobsters swim?!).  

Letters to a PreScientist (https://prescientist.org/donors-and-partners/) - This group pairs students in low-income neighborhoods with scientist pen-pals for a year. We exchange letters across four themes to invite our student to dream big and know that they CAN be a scientist (or anything else!). I have a file folder of letters saved from across the years, and they all make me feel like small actions make a big difference.

Thanks to everybody who shared their stories. I loved being part of showcasing the very human passion that drives us all.

https://twitter.com/RebeccaMVarney/status/1483177665892737025?s=20

Thanks so much to the CSU Biology department for hosting me for seminar today! There were wonderful questions from students that have me thinking still, including what would happen if a chiton made apatite valves instead. 

Always happy to share the joys of chiton dentistry with the masses! 

Dissertations are rather long, so these things are always time-delayed quite a bit, but I'm happy to share that I received this award! I loved the cohesive story I got to tell with my work, and am happy to know that scientists from other disciplines could see the merits in my chiton dentistry! :) 

The problem with studying small brains is that they are, in fact, small brains. If you've ever worked with brain tissues, you know that they are malleable, so small bits rarely hold their shape. We want to compare brain structures between hexapods (insects), stomatopods (mantis shrimps), and copepods and ostracods. Those last two? TINY BRAINS!

I just won a CORE-grant to sequencing single cell transcriptomes from 8 biological samples. I'll be generating data from all four groups to look at homologous and convergent structures at a cellular level. 

I also just looked up how to order a cockroach. I'm all for science being unpredictable, but this is just not what I thought my online shopping would look like today. Hmmm. 

Right now I am ramping up work on an NSF-funded project to examine structures in the brains of different arthropods. Todd and I applied for a "REPS" scholar (Research Experience for Post-Baccalaureate Students) and today we got a notice of award! I'm really excited to get to work with this younger researcher to expand this project- two brains (or fifty, in the freezer) are better than one!

It's crazy, but I've been here a month already! Time truly does fly when you're having fun, and I spend most of every day pretty ecstatic. 

All told, it was 8 HOURS of safety training (not kidding. I counted) across various videos. I am very grateful that UCSB required me to upload my vaccination card before coming onto campus; we're back to masking indoors as well and I am very happy to be at a university that values my safety. 

I still occasionally get lost on campus, but one of my amazing lab-mates is always game to get snacks/coffee so the three of them make sure I get home safe.

Check out the projects listed under Research as they continue to expand!