Taking some time for myself... (and a new role)

(Original post from late Fall 2024): This is a bit of a personal post, but times have been quite... heavy. I must also appreciate the fact that it is a huge privilege to receive unwavering support from my husband during this life transition. With that said, I will be candid about what I am going through because I am definitely not the only one experiencing something like this and/or being close to someone who is sturggling with health issues. I recently contracted COVID-19 for the 4th time, around a year after a severe infection with acute covid in late 2023 resulted in long-term symptoms (i.e., post-exertional malaise, chronic fatigue, neurological symptoms and migraines). Long-term COVID has completely altered my energy levels, daily life, functioning, and ability to progress in my graduate program at this time. I am a bit discouraged and have reached a breaking point with my life and health situation, as well as STEM graduate life in general. I've had so much fun at Davis up until this point and it was definitely tough to make the call to withdraw from the program. The reality was that I felt that I needed a serious break-- to both simplify my schedule and leave more time to focus on my personal and family needs, the most important being getting rest and recovery. Additionally, I had been helping manage family health emergencies and recently decided to commit to assisting more frequently with ongoing caregiving of my loved ones.

Many people who know me also know that I usually put a solid effort into troubleshooting and doing my best to continue when challenges arise. For MANY reasons (not limited to basic wellness and financial), simply being "resilient" and "just doing it" is not a viable option for me at this time. Thus I've decided recently that I will not be continuing in my graduate program. When the universe tells you to rest over and over again, you simply do it. Thanks to all of the people who continue to remain in my corner and are proud of me regardless of my academic output. I'll be back to work, to educate and keep doing science in some form. For now, I don't know what exactly that is going to look like. Blue skies, as a very cool mentor of mine always says :)

(Spring 2025 Update): I have been busy enjoying being outdoors, arts and crafts lately, and working on pre-prodcution of my planned YouTube video series. I have also continued with job searching and establishing tutoring/professional development clientelle. More updates to come in Spring 2026!

Enjoying being out in the spring weather:

(Summer 2025 Update): Hobbies, Arts & Crafts (and first educational YouTube video is complete and in the editing phase :D)

Great news everyone! I have obtained my first part-time faculty position! More details to come soon and I'll also be updating photo captions at some point.

Illustration inspired by the following research study:: Phillips et al. 2024

Educational YouTube channel coming soon...

I love science communication and watching educational videos and seminars on YouTube so I thought I'd start a new project that will help me practice teaching and explaining my research interests regarding various issues in fisheries and aquatic ecology. I have found drawing and doodling in my notes to be extremely helpful for learning and generating knew ideas.

Below is a cartoony salmon life cycle figure that I did recenlty-- eventually I will make a video that will include key information about salmon ecology and physiology in the context of conservation along the Pacific Northwest coast. Stay tuned!

The video will feature a talking head (aka cartoon me) explaining stuff, because why not? This will hopefully make the information more relatable and engaging to a wider audience of all ages.

First year mini update

(updated Sept. 7th 2024)

Hello! I wanted to give a brief update about the first year of my PhD program, both for self-reflection and for anyone who might be interested in what I've been up to at Davis.

I started my graduate research position last summer, and since I've had the chance to do some light lab trainings, orientations, and volunteering out in the field with a few adjacent research groups in the GGE. I ended the summer with an amazing trip with my cohort and grad student mentors to some of the natural reserves associated with UCD (see photos taken at Point Reyes and the Bodega Marine Lab). I missed the second half of the trip to attend my best friend's wedding the weekend before classes started. As part of some of my coursework and volunteer opportunities, I got to help sample fish from estuarine (Suisun Marsh CWS monitoring) and marine (Bodega Bay CCFRP) habitats, and benthic macroinvertebrates (Putah Creek). Although my car transmission failied, I was lucky to learn about a good back-up plan from my advidsor, the bus system! Riding the bus turned out to be an efficient and economical alternative to driving to campus everyday-- plus it got me riding my big-wheel kick scooter all over campus and the city of Davis, which was fun.

AND THEN... to put it candidly, a BUNCH of unexpected challenges came up immediately following the start of my first quarter of classes. I became sick with a second bout of COVID-19, but this time it was more severe with acute symptoms. COVID symptoms took me out for much of the Fall quarter, with more health challenges to follow, including extreme fatigue, weakness, and what everyone calls "brain fog," although I have now learned that what I am still experiencing (almost an entire year later) is more than just a fog. Fortunately, I have an extremely amazing care team and support network both on and off campus that helped me get through many health and financial challenges that followed acute COVID. Quite recently, I've received a some useful information and a little more clarity about my conditions and how to potentially work through them within the realm of graduate school.

As I was continuing to recover from several physical and neurological ailments throughout the first academic year, my care team, advisor, lab team, close friends (even a few in my program), loving partner and family members helped me continue on when I became discouraged. I even had the chance to get involved in some extracurriculars and outreach activities along the way, like STEM squad (an afterschool mentorig program), a scientific communication art show (a great outreach opportunity in the GGE), student groups, an E&E prospective graduate student mentoring program, and panels for Sac State undergraduates and incoming UCD graduate students in GGE. To top off this summer and my birthday week, I recently heard that I was nominated as my graduate group's student co-chair, and I look forward to getting involved and helping out our program. I've also been able to secure some research funding and a teaching position for my second year, so things are definitely coming together. I really needed these wins after the loss of our beloved one-of-a-kind cat/son Dio earlier this summer. With all of the heartbreak and grieving, Dio managed to summon our guardian angel-- Mya-- a kitten with enough spunk and sweetness to keep me and Louie sane as we heal from such a great loss of our baby boy cat. I am looking forward to continuing to recover and recharge after wrapping up a couple of remaining exams and classwork from when I fell behind. With all that I have learned and perservered through this year, I look forward to the growth, progress, and excitement that the remainder of the summer and coming school year has in store.

I will end this post with a photo recap from where it all began (see pictures below). I couldn't have asked for a greater father, who I owe my love and passion for the outdoors to. Thanks Dad for giving me that spark!

Me (left) at 6 years old showing off our catch, likely from Lake Berryessa, or maybe somewhere in the SF Bay Area? Ignore the 90's scrapbook sticker...

Dad (below) about 15 years ago, after his first time taking my partner fishing at Pyramid Lake.

Beloved Dio (above) and some wildflowers from the garden that began to bloom the morning after his passing. Baby Mya (below) managed to achieve the head nudge of approval from the fierce Dio <3

Random dump of photos from the last year of PhD program experiences that I will update with captions as soon as possible :) . The first two were from my lab's super cool UCD Picnic Day booth.