Welcome to 2015

It’s a brand new year, and lots to do! The IGI is having our official Grand Opening in February; we’re teaching an open CRISPR Workshop in July with Dana Carroll organizing and lecturers include Jennifer Doudna, Jonathan Weissman, myself, and more (check our website for more details on how to apply after January 30th); and we’re convening a bioethics retreat very soon. Not to mention all the goings-on in the lab, including three new postdocs starting before March. Exciting times!

I’ll be in Big Sky, MT for the next week at the Keystone Genome Editing and Synthetic Biology meeting. I’m looking forward to hearing some great talks, catching up with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and generally immersing myself in interesting science. I’m also looking for talented and motivated research scientists and postdocs. No CRISPR experience necessary, feel free to come up and say “Hi” if you’re curious about the IGI.

I find conferences to be a great way to even further boost my excitement about projects in the lab — by the end I’m worked up about all the new ideas, collaborations, and projects spurred by conversations with unexpected people. The boost might also relate to the copious amounts of coffee I inevitably end up drinking. Perhaps this time I’ll try water during the coffee breaks.

Check the @igisci twitter feed and this blog for updates from the conference. Don’t expect liveblogging, but I’ll post general thoughts as they come.