Thread by @PlantPathSecret

After a dozen years in red, it's time for a new color scheme!
#PostdocLife 🔜 #NewPI

In January 2023, the Carter Lab will be opening up at @unccharlotte. We'll study host-bacterial-fungal interactions within @UNCCBiology and CIPHER💚

I can't tell you how lucky I feel to land a dream job in my home state. @MathMauney & I are so excited to return to his hometown and actually move closer to family and friends this time!!
I've been so grateful for him being my cheerleader but we're both ready for more stability.

I appreciated my family's support and constant questions into this insane process, including: facilitation of my first "onsite" interview and that they somehow managed to get a care basket into a hotel in a different state at my first true onsite.

https://twitter.com/PlantPathSecret/status/1337903577818271745?s=20&t=bM0VXWUXWz4wiQcO6KMwYQ

@surt_lab welcomed me into his lab even when I said, "I want to postdoc for as little time as possible" and has been helping me move on since before I even joined.

Both he and @AdamBogdanove have buoyed my confidence and helped me grow under their mentorship.

To other mentors, colleagues, collaborators, and (non)academic friends:
@RogerInnes1, @betsyarizona, @mattdhelm19, @AdrienneGorny, @ejcieniewicz, @Hashtag_Read, @scdcarpenter, @mclark753BC, and many others

Being a #PandemicPostdoc really had some ups and downs. The lows are low, y'all. And I really don't want to gloss over that. I've been in a constant job/funding search since about summer of 2019. That 🎢 wears you out.

https://twitter.com/PlantPathSecret/status/1372606098604105729?s=20&t=ml3G33xE_BnQHvWlOszRbw

This is a pared down version of my apps this cycle. I submitted 24 faculty apps total starting in March 2020.
At some points I felt like I was throwing things into a void.
Still struck by the fact that "only" doing for this a couple cycles makes me lucky 😵‍💫

To get through, I leaned on positivity from networks, commiseration with job board communities, and advice from many mentors and peers on my app materials.
I'm happy to share that forward, just reach out. (Not quite ready to post app materials publicly)

I'm going into this with eyes wide open re: the problems in academia.
I'm staying to help fix it.
To make it better for those coming next.
I recognize the privilege that makes me able to do this (financial, social, etc).
I'm hoping to use that for the best outcome for others.

Honestly, being able to teach and mentor at a public institution in my home state is my dream.
I'm ecstatic to facilitate career-focused training, help people identify and achieve their dreams, all while continuing to explore the wacky world of molecular microbiology.

For the next few months, I'll be in Tucson just being a postdoc for a bit. That's weird 😅

And of course, I'll be recruiting for positions to start in summer/fall 2023 and am eager to start forming new collaborations within and beyond Charlotte on all sorts of molecular host-microbe-microbe interactions.
🌱🍄🦠
Please reach out if you want to connect!

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