Divinity Avenue

I stepped out of the Red Line train at Harvard Square and transited the rest of the way to my destination on foot: 16 Divinity Avenue. It's an awfully grandiose address, but then again, this is one of the places where life's mysteries are discerned. Come to think of it, the group's figurehead even trends toward godlike: he knows a lot of things, shows up in numerous places, and has a lot of power in the community. But even for such a high-and-mighty scientist, he knows who I am. It's one of the reasons I respect him so much. 

If you haven't figured it out already, my destination was Pete Girguis's lab at Harvard University. One of my collaborators (Craig McClain) is on sabbatical there right now, and we had a proposal to discuss. 

After navigating past the giant mural of the Alvin submersible in Pete's hallway, I found Craig in his third-floor office. We got straight to business: what could reviewers criticize about our proposal? What flaws would we highlight if we were in their position? How can we strengthen the research and make it more attractive for funding? We spent about an hour brainstorming before surrendering to the need for coffee and lunch. 

I walked backwards to meet Craig's eyes. "What question keeps you up at night? What bothers you the most that we as scientists do not yet understand?" I had my answer in mind, but I wanted to hear his. 

Over vegetable curry from a food truck, we came up with a great idea. How do larvae find ephemeral, island-like habitats in the deep ocean, like wood falls? Trying to answer this question combines both our expertise areas seamlessly and would involve a lot of fun experiments. We might have a new proposal to write soon.

In mid-afternoon, I headed west to Boston University, where my collaborator, Sarah Davies, has her lab. On my shoulder was an insulated bag full of frozen coral samples that I had to deliver, and besides, it was Cas's birthday. We settled into his office with celebratory sweets and looked over the manuscript Cas is currently drafting. It includes results from the thermal stress experiment that we did in Palau last spring, and I'm super excited to see the paper coming together! As the clock ticked toward 5:00 and our conversation devolved into socializing, I took my leave and got back on the train. 

I had a great day visiting with collaborators in Boston! I'm grateful to be part of such a strong community of researchers stretching across depths and fields.