...he got up and hugged me...

As many of you know, I have been thinking about grad school options since before I made aliyah.  I have bounced around from genetic counseling to a molecular genetics program.  From applying to and turning down a biotechnology and food engineering master's to visiting an institute in the desert.  And finally, from a program in green energy to my resting point: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior.  The master's program is within the Biology Department of Hebrew University, Givat Ram.

Not only have I been accepted to begin my studies in the fall, but I have also been accepted to begin work in Ran Natan's Movement Ecology Lab.  Ran is the founder, per se, of Movement Ecology, and his research experiences and interests are quite broad.  He is currently serving as the Head of the Biology Department at Hebrew University, as well.

I had two meetings within the past week to meet the post doc and PhD student I will be working with and to meet the professor, Ran.  There was a calm, casual air to both meetings, and everyone seemed relaxed and happy to be in the lab.  At the beginning of my meeting with Ran, we shook hands and began a pretty typical interview.  As the meeting continued, the formalities broke down.  About twenty minutes into the meeting, he offered me a spot in his lab to begin immediately and continue through my graduate studies.  It was so Israeli when he got up and hugged me as soon as I accepted.  Then he took me on rounds of the lab to meet everyone (I have a lot of names to learn) before sending me off to complete some paperwork.


I will begin working in the lab in less than two weeks, and the time spent there before my studies will help to build my lab skills as well as set a foundation for my master's research.  I will be studying gene flow on the individual level in white storks.  While the species is one I never considered, the research questions I am looking to answer are very interesting to me!  Also, I am excited to close the diaper changing chapter of my life, at least temporarily!