Hitting the Highlights

I can't believe that it has been about nine months since I wrote a blog post.  Blogging has unfortunately had a tendency to get pushed further and further down the to-do list in favor of new data or pressing deadlines.  

Let me just hit the highlights from the past nine months.  Since the last post I...

• Applied for and was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship that will cover my stipend for the next three years of my PhD.
• Submitted my dissertation proposal plus took (and passed) my written and oral qualifying exams so I am now officially a PhD candidate.
• Completed a couple more classes.
• Dated detrital garnets from two new field sites.
• Attempted to still sleep, eat, and not let science totally consume my life.
• Spent the entire past 6 weeks working super long days and cranking out data for an AGU abstract and my first paper.

Hopefully the next nine months will hold equally exciting highlights and more consistent blog posts!