Camping and First Classes

This week started with a camping trip to big basin state park. The famous Biomass first-year camping trip. Two days of camping with those intrepid first year graduate students in the Biosciences program brave enough to face the tents and hikes. There were roughly 20 of us this year, which I'm told is less than previous years. Big Basin is not far from Stanford, a little over an hour driving according to google maps, but I remember it being far less than that.

We got there, set up camp, all that good stuff, then went for a short hike. By then it was maybe 4 or so, plenty of daylight left. roughly two miles later, we were welcomed back to camp with burgers of all sorts. Beef, veggie even turkey; I had no idea that there even were turkey burgers but there you go. Of course eventually we garthered around a roaring campfire and talked long into the night. This being something like 10 or 11. I don't think we made it past midnight, but who's actually looking at a watch here? Being good scientists of course, we decided to experiment with placing an empty beer bottle in the embers to see whether it would melt. It did. We would try again with more, bigger bottles, having planned the fire to more completely cover the glass. But this would have to wait, the sleeping bag beckoned. The next day, a breakfast of charcoal-warmed bagels with nutella contemplating two options: 10 mile hike, 15 mile hike. Both would go 5 miles to a waterfall then the 10 milers would return to camp following a slightly different route and the 15 milers would go 10 more miles, braving hills and sweat to show their worthy athletic skill. 10 miles is for sissies.

The waterfall was beautiful, we got there just as the sun was breaking through the trees to shine on the flowing turbulent water. We ate lunch: sandwiches of hummus, cheese and lettuce harmoniously complimented by animal crackers. At this point we asked the fearless leader, a 5th year by the name of Charlie, how far we had gone and were dismayed to hear, "5 miles or so." Ok so maybe 10 miles isn't for sissies. Reexamining the maps led to a new plan: 12 miles. We would all hike up a ways to a crest where the pacific could be glimpsed at a distance, then go back down to camp. Everything went swimmingly, though the view of the ocean was a bit off due to fog/haze on the distance.

Upon our return, we boiled water to make pasta which we then mixed with Prego and grilled sausages. I learned to play a game called Phase 10. To say the very least, I was terrible at Phase 10.

The fire was started, and we resumed our experimentation with glass. We added a bottle of wine, bottles of Corona, Heineken, Gordon Biersch and Fat Tire ale into the heart of the fire. We we left with a gooey mess which unfortunately broke easily as it cooled unevenly. With a few beers on the belly we held a racy session of "Never have I Ever" before repairing to sleeping bags once again. In the morning we took down the camp and drove home.

The whole experience was really wonderful, I met a many of students from other departments, creating connections I'm not sure I otherwise would have had the opportunity to forge. In fact, I was the only student from the biochemistry department to go on the trip. I also saw just how beautiful California is. This wasn't just an ordinary forest, this park was populated with redwoods, trees that towered incredibly high, shading the length of our hike. Some were hollowed and the whole group could stand fully inside the tree with room to spare. The natural beauty of this place is really quite incredible and only a short drive from home.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera. Charlie will be grouping people's pictures so I'll link those when I get the chance.

On other news this week has yielded my first classes and a rotation project. Classes have gone well, we don't have any exams, only problem sets roughly every week. I'm taking Biological Macromolecules, a course explaining how proteins and DNA assume their shapes and perform their functions. It seems very interesting and it's taught by some of the people driving the field forward. There isn't just one instructor but 10 or so that each take a few lectures to cover their topic of expertise. This is a very different model than undergraduate classes at Maryland and I really look forward to seeing how the rest of the course goes.

I have also set up a rotation with the Ferrell lab. I'm not working on the traditional expertise of the lab (biological oscillators), but on the evolution of protein regulation. In particular, I'm working with a postdoc who is testing a hypothesis as to how acetylation may have emerged as a regulator of protein function. We will be testing mutations to test certain protein sites for relative susceptibility to acetylation and control by such a mechanism. This means I have a ton of reading to do this weekend, which is OK. This is what grad school is about, and I'm glad to be finally moving down that long road towards a degree.