It’s taken me a ridiculously long time to get around to completing this blog but finally, here we go! I really wanted to write a sort of wrap-up on the course and in doing so reflect upon what I gained most from participating. Here goes:

1) The most valuable thing I gained from this course was a much deeper appreciation of the oceanic environment, and of oceanography as a discipline. I had no idea how little I actually was aware of with respect to general study and existing knowledge of ocean systems before coming to CMORE. I’m sure I still know very little, but at least I’m aware of my own ignorance and have an idea of some places to begin improving (for example, learning more about dissolved and particulate nutrient flux patterns in the ocean, and comparing and contrasting these patterns across different oceanic regions). I really appreciate the importance of understanding the environment in which one studies, because without a solid grounding in these fundamentals, it’s very unlikely that one will be able to interpret any results they may discover in an ecologically or culturally meaningful way. I realized that I really do want to be an oceanographer at the core, and to use my understanding of oceanography to interpret the microbiology of these systems (rather than being a microbiologist trying to apply the paradigms of microbiology in various environments). So I have a lot more learning to do, and intend to spend more time with the ocean sciences crowd at UBC now that I’m back!

2) I realized how small our field (oceanography, and especially microbial oceanography) really is, and that most of the great people I interacted with in this course will likely be my colleagues for years to come, given that we all stay in this field of study. I think it’s so amazing that I have been lucky enough to have become a part of this community at such an early stage in my career, and we all (the students) have so many resources at our disposal to help us answer questions, form collaborations, and make a contribution to each others careers.

3) This course also provided ample opportunities for development in the area of leadership, especially in leading groups. When it came time to amalgamate our research for the Student Presentations, it was the first time I had been working with a large group (16 students) under a timeline to achieve a common goal. I figured out quickly that to lead such a group effectively requires enrolling the leadership of others, such that there is not just one person telling everyone what to do, but rather drawing leadership qualities out of everyone so that we are all being the leaders. It was fantastic to learn this in a participatory manner, by actually experiencing it and figuring out what works and what doesn’t first hand, as opposed to learning it from a book or from a simulated leadership training experience. I realized I have a long way to go before I feel I will be an effective manager of groups of people and am looking forward to more challenges like this!

4) My confidence in my research probably quadrupled over the summer. To finally GET that I do have a fairly good grasp on many of the topics related to my thesis, and that others feel that my research is exciting, novel, well organized and most importantly that I’m making adequate progress was really a big deal. So far, graduate school has been a very challenging experience for me, as someone who is very results oriented and used to having some kind of bar to compare to, be it grades, times to beat in triathlon, etc. In a PhD, there is really no way to definitively say, “yes I am doing enough, and I am doing well” because everything is subjective and there is no one bar to measure up against. I’m sure this problem will not be solved overnight, but I have noticed a huge difference in my confidence levels at work and in my motivation to try new things and defend my ideas since being back in the lab in Vancouver. This growth alone made the course the most valuable experience I’ve had in graduate school so far and will make SUCH a difference to my next few years here!!!

I’m pretty sure I could go on forever about all the amazing things I learned, people I met, places I visited, things I saw and so on for a very long time but I think I’ve recapped the most important take home messages I got from the course. I intend to write a proposal for a workshop of developing Teaching Portfolios and participatory teaching methods for next years course, because I would just LOVE to be a part of this wonderful experience again and meet all of the students next year. Until then, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of the amazing faculty and staff for making this dream course a reality and for contributing more than you’ll ever know to all of the students who have had the superb fortune to participate! We truly cannot thank you enough- Aloha and Mahalo!!!