(1) It’s been a while since I updated this, because
(2) I was busy finishing my PhD, and am now
(3) starting my NSF SEES postdoctoral fellowship at CMBC (yes, staying in beloved San Diego!) with Octavio Aburto and the Gulf of California Marine Program, Ratana Chuenpagdee and Too Big To Ignore (TBTI), the Marine Conservation Institute, and others. 2 weeks in!
Am writing from TBTI’s hometown, Memorial University at St. John’s in Newfoundland, where I’m visiting for a week-ish to outline my project and, with other early career researchers, the role of us “young folk” in TBTI’s future. It’s been stimulating and fun thus far – will detail more in a future post.
So, yes, long story short: am now Dr. Whitty. The final PhD stretch was thrilling and exhausting, and I shall detail this as well in a future post. The doctoral day and immediate aftermath were absolutely wonderful. The not-immediate aftermath was challenging (post-dissertation-partum depression?). The 2WSFC in charming Merida, with some post-conference travels, was fantastic professionally & personally for getting me excited about this whole career thing again. And my first 2 weeks of this postdoc have been wonderful – my new research family at GOCMP is great, this visit is going well, and I’m off to Australia next month for the IUCN World Parks Congress!
Coming up in the not-too-distant: Link to my defense video, overview of my various collaborators and upcoming project, and an update on our lil’ research group, SAFRN!
Tara Sayuri Whitty 