With the lab moving between institutions this year, we have to transport several years’ of samples, data, and equipment from Arizona to California. After a long set of administrative actions to arrange for the purchase and transport of these items, our moving day finally came. I flew back to Arizona to meet our Arizona State University team and prior colleagues to help with the transition.

The move took nine hours with a two-person professional moving crew, and with us already having organized or boxed most of our equipment. Lab postdoc Dr. Luiza Aparecido played a key role in setting us up for success.

We had a few surprises – an unexpected bottle of formaldehyde, some mystery soil samples, and a half-gallon of milk that had solidified in the lab fridge, among other things – but overall the moving and packing went smoothly.

Dozens of boxes and crates later, everything was packed away. We’re expecting delivery in about a week, hopefully with all (or at least most) of our items intact. There is a lot of faith involved in giving several years’ of datasheets and plant specimens to a moving company, but we are optimists.

I even had time to check in on our Arizona undergraduate students Ivanna, Miguel, Martha, and Sabrina. Some of them are still working on their theses with the lab, so it was great to get back and check in on progress.

Thanks to everyone for helping us with these last stages of the move – and soon we will start doing some science in California!