Congratulations!
Huge congratulations to Dr James Barrett for successfully passing his PhD Viva! Well done, and good luck with the following career as a Postdoc!
Mackinder lab at Plastid Preview 2023
Finishing the summer conference seasons, we made our way to the historic city of Oxford, where, hosted in the beautiful New College (which actually is one of the oldest), we attended Plastid Preview 2023. This conference is targeted at Early Career Researchers and provides a very friendly atmosphere where we could discuss our and others' research in great depth as well as get to know the chloroplast research community better. Abi and Onyou gave excellent talks and Gaurav, Mihris and Sabina presented their posters, with Sabina winning one of the best posters award.
We will be sure to attend the meeting next year, taking place in The Royal Halloway University.
We will be sure to attend the meeting next year, taking place in The Royal Halloway University.
European Phycological Congress (EPC8)
Every four years, the international phycological research community gathers for a congress. This time, we all met at the picturesque coastal city of Brest, located in western France. The meeting provided a great diversity of talks spanning from algal ecology, cellular biology, and biotechnology to the relationships of coastal communities and the wider public with algae. The meeting had a great choice of talks, with multiple panels running at the same time, and showcased an impressive choice of posters.
From our lab, Onyou, Charlotte, and Justin presented well-received talks, and Matt, Sabina and Abi presented their posters, which led to many interesting conversations.
From our lab, Onyou, Charlotte, and Justin presented well-received talks, and Matt, Sabina and Abi presented their posters, which led to many interesting conversations.
Molecular Life of Diatoms (MLD7)
This July, the world’s leading researchers of diatom molecular biology gathered at the Scripps Institute, San Diego. Onyou, Luke and Sabina have travelled across the pond and have presented our research in the form of presentations and posters. It was great to connect more closely with the very friendly diatom community, and we have enjoyed the beautiful nature and weather in San Diego. We can’t wait for the next installment of the meeting, happening in Ghent in 2025!
Lab retreat
Laboratory work is the bread and butter of all the members of our lab. But sometimes science happens away too - like in the beautiful landscapes of the North Yorkshire Moors. In May, our team visited Lockton for a lab retreat. We discussed ideas for papers and explored the bigger picture of our work, as well as released our creative side by designing a lab logo. In between our busy sessions, we could also relax in the calming surroundings of nature and even try some slacklining!
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Dr Christine Kwok and Caroline Mackenzie! We are really happy to be able to celebrate your graduation and good luck with the next stages of your career!
Christmas Social 2022
This Christmas season the Mackinder lab has taken an unconventional approach to celebrating the holidays and we tested our strength and precision by visiting a local axe-throwing establishment. We had plenty of fun and we embraced the wild side of our personalities by performing some truly terrifying Viking battle cries.
Robin Hood's Bay explorations
In September 2022, we visited one of the most beautiful spots on the Yorkshire coast for a lab away day. No rain could scare us, so we bravely set out to appreciate the life blooming in the shallow tidal pools. We found algae, crabs and also some ancient fossils.
Mackinder lab at Plastid Preview 2022
At the end of summer we made our way to the beautiful city of Norwich to listen about all things plastid. We spent two fascinating day exploring chloroplast biology and meeting other researchers in the field.
Three of us gave talks: Christine explained the intricacies of calcium signalling in CCM regulation in Chlamydomonas, James presented his work on pyrenoid linker proteins in the core Chlorophytes and Mihris took us on a journey to the field of algal genetic engineering for biofuel production.
We also brought beautiful posters with us which Justin, Caroline, Matt and Sabina presented during the poster session.
We are really looking forward to see everyone again at Plastid Preview 2023 in Oxford!
Three of us gave talks: Christine explained the intricacies of calcium signalling in CCM regulation in Chlamydomonas, James presented his work on pyrenoid linker proteins in the core Chlorophytes and Mihris took us on a journey to the field of algal genetic engineering for biofuel production.
We also brought beautiful posters with us which Justin, Caroline, Matt and Sabina presented during the poster session.
We are really looking forward to see everyone again at Plastid Preview 2023 in Oxford!
Mysteries at an abandoned house
To celebrate the end of Herbie's summer studentship we went for a thrilling adventure at an escape room. We searched for hints, clues, and wracked our brains cracking cyphers. And - most importantly - found the treasure before it was destroyed!
Mackinder Lab at CCM10 held in Princeton, NJ, USA
Mackinder lab members attended the CCM10 meeting hosted by Jonikas lab at Princeton University (6-8th July 2022). The meeting focuses on photosynthetic organisms' CO2 concentrating mechanism. We truly enjoyed and learned a lot from the meeting. Thank you to Jonikas lab for organising.
We look forward to CCM11, hosted by the Mackinder and McCormick labs in York, in 2025!
We look forward to CCM11, hosted by the Mackinder and McCormick labs in York, in 2025!
Congratulations to Abi!
Congrats from the Mackinder lab celebrating Abi and Dom's civil partnership
Mackinder Lab Pub Trip!
We had lots to celebrate! Onyou's new addition, Charlotte's fellowship, James's poster award and the internship students Sam and Hew are finishing their projects!
Congratulations to Charlotte!
Charlotte Walker has just received a 4-year BBSRC Discovery Fellowship to pursue her work on the Chlamydomonas bestrophin-like proteins in the lab!
Congratulations to James!
James Barrett has won the BPS Student Poster Prize at the 70th BPS annual meeting held in Swansea, Wales. Excellent job, James!
Congratulations on the birth of Onyou's baby girl Chaelyn!
Mackinder Lab at M2 Christmas Meal 2021
Merry Christmas from Mackinder Lab 2021!
Lab trip to Birmingham attending Algae-UK's 'A Festival of Algae'
Irina's Farewell Party
Mackinder Lab Pub Trip
Lab walk followed by some hard earned beers at the pub!
Finally we could go on a lab social. We did a local walk from the department through some beautiful Yorkshire countryside ending up at the pub for some food and drinks!
Congratulations to Philipp!
Philipp Girr has just received a prestigious 2-year DFG Postdoctoral fellowship to pursue his work on the Chlamydomonas pyrenoid in the lab!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Mackinder Lab 2020!
(P.s. my New Year's resolution is to up my lab news posting skills...)
Merry Christmas from the Mackinder Lab 2019!Merry Christmas from the algae lab AND the algae!
Mackinder Lab hosts Plastid Preview 2019Plastid Preview 2019 was hosted by the Mackinder Lab in the University of York Biology Department. The meeting is focussed on photosynthetic organisms, their biology and how to study them. We had 55 delegates, predominantly Early Career Researchers, attending from Edinburgh, London, Cambridge, Lancaster, Plymouth, Norwich and more.
Thank you to all who presented, there was an excellent standard of talks and posters. Congratulations to Robyn Phillips and Tommy Emrich-Mills for winning best talk and poster prizes respectively. Thank you to SEB, Algae-UK, Li-Cor and Gatsby for funding and sponsorship of the event. Without this support, the fully funded meeting aimed at Early Career Researchers would not have been possible. We are looking forward to next year's meeting hosted by David Lea-Smith from UEA. See you all in 2020! Merry Christmas from the Mackinder LabDecember 20th 2018
We celebrated the Christmas season with a festive Italian meal, drinks at Brew York, Secret Santa and brilliantly illustrated Christmas Cards from our PhD student Christine. Thank you SO much everyone for your wonderful efforts, it was a lovely evening. Another year over and lots of exciting work has been done in and outside the lab. We have had many highlights! These include Luke winning the SEB President's Medal for Cell Biology and presenting a Medalist talk at their annual meeting. We also welcomed a number of new staff and student members to the team. Our lab members have been very active in attending conferences, including the SEB Annual Meeting in Florence where Luke hosted a session on algal CCMs with Dr Alistair McCormick (University of Edinburgh), Plastid Preview in Lancaster where Charlotte won best poster prize, CyanoNET in Glasgow and ePS in Uppsala. Finally, the extra icing on the cake: we have cloned many many genes, particularly by Gary, Guoyan and Tom; hosted GCSE work experience students; and are the proud owners of a new shaker in the growth room! Good work team. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May 2019 be filled with publications, great meetings, new collaborations and lots of exciting data! |
The Mackinder Lab Gets a Strike
November 13th 2018
The Mackinder Lab rolled over to Tenpin York for some healthy competition on the alleys. We bravely opted for no barriers and achieved some spectacular gutter balls as a result! Some questionable tactics included using the ramp and the rolling the ball the wrong way... However, after a few warm-up rounds the group was achieving spares and strikes, no pin was left standing.
Well done to James for winning both games and Christine who gets the award for most enthusiastic player!
The Mackinder Lab rolled over to Tenpin York for some healthy competition on the alleys. We bravely opted for no barriers and achieved some spectacular gutter balls as a result! Some questionable tactics included using the ramp and the rolling the ball the wrong way... However, after a few warm-up rounds the group was achieving spares and strikes, no pin was left standing.
Well done to James for winning both games and Christine who gets the award for most enthusiastic player!
Lab Escape the Room
April 23rd 2018
The Mackinder Lab pitted itself against York's Escape the Room. Team work, abstract thinking and perseverance paid off to get us out in a respectable 50:09 minutes.
The Mackinder Lab pitted itself against York's Escape the Room. Team work, abstract thinking and perseverance paid off to get us out in a respectable 50:09 minutes.
Luke wins the 2018 SEB President's Medal for Cell Biology
December 8th 2017
Luke has been awarded the 2018 Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) President's medal for Cell Biology
(http://www.sebiology.org/events/event-sub-pages/seb-florence-2018/awards-and-prizes/president-medallists#luke). The SEB President’s Medals are awarded annually to young scientists of outstanding merit. This year’s awards will be presented at the Annual Meeting, SEB Florence 2018. "It was unexpected to receive this accolade at such an early stage and I would like to recognise the hard work of all those on my team, my collaborators and thank those who have taught and mentored me over the years"
(http://www.sebiology.org/events/event-sub-pages/seb-florence-2018/awards-and-prizes/president-medallists#luke). The SEB President’s Medals are awarded annually to young scientists of outstanding merit. This year’s awards will be presented at the Annual Meeting, SEB Florence 2018. "It was unexpected to receive this accolade at such an early stage and I would like to recognise the hard work of all those on my team, my collaborators and thank those who have taught and mentored me over the years"
Lab ice skating trip
November 30th 2017
A snowy afternoon saw the Mackinder Lab's first Christmas Party - on Ice. After some close shaves and lots of laughs we warmed up with hot chocolate followed by some pub grub. Featuring: All the moves Eleanor, most improved Guoyan, looking smooth Tom, keeping it casual Holly, never quite in control Luke and jazzy Justin.
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