Happy 1st Birthday, JML

It's hard for me to believe, but the Monaghan Lab has been open for a year now. Happy Birthday to us! Last January I was up to my ears in dusty old bottles and had calloses from scraping tape off of every nook and cranny of this place with a razor (it's really the only thing that works). I was so, so fortunate to inherit a large lab with a lot of useful equipment for molecular biology, but the place needed a deep clean. Here are some shots of the lab taken around this time last year,  before my first student Pat arrived and helped Jeff and I really whip this place into shape:

After (properly) disposing of some questionable haz waste, going through 3 or 4 bottles of CLR (amazing stuff), a fresh coat of paint, new lights, floor wax, the purchase of a laminator, and some serious organization, the lab is looking pretty good: 

It has been my all-time favourite project to set up this scientific playground just the way I want it  and to train students eager to learn about plant immunity. The fun continues this year as I now have funding to purchase equipment to enhance our research program. I wonder what the lab will look like on our second birthday...