It was an exciting year! The big ticket items were a plenty. First and foremost, I married my best friend Tatum in February at Niagara Falls, NY. It was just close friends, so we celebrated in both Wisconsin and Louisiana afterward. It was wonderful to celebrate with friends and family at two very different, very fun elopement celebrations.
Next, Dr. Warwick Allen’s final chapter from his thesis was published in Ecology this year (see publications page). This is a huge accomplishment for him; it’s not easy publishing each chapter of your thesis in the world of ecology. I was lucky enough to help him in the field and in the greenhouse on this project. There’s nothing like sharing a couple of energy drinks at 4am in a humid Louisiana greenhouse!
Finally, we move on to December. First, Dr. Miguel Acevedo had his review of the virulence trade-off hypothesis accepted in Evolution. Again, this was a ton of hard work and took a lot of stick-to-it-tiveness to see it through to the final product. That manuscript will be published sometime within the next year. Second, my book review of Dr. Mohamed Noor’s newest book will be published in Leading Edge magazine in the next week or so. It’s the first time I’ll be published in a popular magazine and it’s very exciting! Plus, getting to talk to Dr. Noor was a lot of fun. Finally, and probably second most importantly after the wedding, I DEFENDED MY PHD! So for the next few months, any mail sent from me will have a return address starting with “Dr. and Mrs. Flick”! It’s my little way of celebrating the two best moments so far, defending my PhD and getting married.