2017, what a year so far! While my 2016 felt like I put a ton of effort into various projects with little to show for it, 2017 is enjoying the fruits of that labor. It’s been a rapid fire of first time scientific achievements and events, each one giving me that どきどき feeling. First scientific publication? どきどき First time being the one to submit a scientific paper to a journal (with Team Mammal)? どきどき First time writing and submitting an abstract for a conference? どきどき. どきどき, どきどき、so much どきどき, and I don’t foresee it letting up anytime soon!

In a couple weeks, I’ll give my first presentation at a scientific conference, the Ecological Society of Japan. どきどき In May, I’ll apply for a large and competitive grant for the first time. どきどき In fact, I’m starting to think that 2017 isn’t the year of the rooster, it’s the year of どきどき.  Haha. Needless to say, I think  2017 is going to be a very intense, but very exciting year!  One that will really help define me as a scientific researcher. I’m looking forward to seeing what other firsts come along this year!

~Jason