Part 7 & End of Chapter: While waiting for export permits, we explored the Kathmandu Valley—alive with Buddhist & Hindu traditions, temples at every turn, chaotic traffic, hills filled with with monasteries, & endless momos. Fieldwork now complete, the analysis phase begins. Thanks for following!

Part 6: For decades, the zebrafish has helped scientists unlock the mysteries of genetics, development, & disease. But the fish that power most discoveries have spent generations inside lab tanks. This video captures footage of zebrafish in their natural environment in Nepal.
youtu.be/cCZhZpPALqw

Part 5: Amid the fieldwork & meetings, this trip also brought our U.S. & Nepali teams closer together. The visit happened to overlap with the Tihar festival, giving us time to see the celebrations firsthand & to share meals & conversations that connected the work to the culture & people around it.

Part 4: Our fieldwork focused on wild zebrafish, but in our downtime we couldn’t resist meeting some of Nepal’s other remarkable fauna. A highlight for me was seeing the critically endangered gharial crocodile up close at Chitwan’s Gharial Breeding Center.

Part 3: Agriculture & Forestry Univ. (AFU) was an outstanding partner & hub for this study. Their faculty generously shared lab space, equipment, & expertise essential to this work. We were especially impressed by the AFU students, whose curiosity & initiative energized the project. Dhanyabaad, AFU!

Part 2: With expert guidance from our AFU partners, we explored Chitwan’s maze of streams, canals, and wetlands. Using a range of capture methods, we found zebrafish thriving in many locations. Stay tuned for movies!

Part 1: The last couple of weeks I've had the pleasure of working with a team of scientists from Duke University, University of Oregon, and Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Nepal to study the biology of zebrafish in their natural habitat. ...

Another RawlsLab retreat is in the books! Activities included centering our core values & skill development goals, science communication, a postapocalyptic scavenger hunt, & enjoying the NC summer. Now more than ever, I’m deeply grateful to work alongside this team of talented & intrepid scientists.

Karolinska is looking for 20 (!!) assistant professors and offering 6 year appointments with ~1M USD startup packages.

ki.se/en/about-ki/...

Congratulations to Briana Davis and Maggie Morash on their successful PhD thesis defenses in the Duke University Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Program!

Happy International Women’s Day! Today and everyday I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside and learn from this talented group of women scientists. Funded by grants from the NIH, this team is working to understand how the gut microbiome affects our digestive and metabolic health.