How The Dunn Lab Does Summer
Everyone needs a break now and then from work. In that spirit, we’re taking the month of August off from our Said&Dunn posts. But before we go, we thought you might want to know about our summer – what we’re planning to do, what we’ve done so far, and the memories we have of some of our best summers. Check out this summer Q&A by current lab members and be on the lookout for our first post back in September!
What are you looking forward to doing on vacation this summer?
Erin hanging by the pool, circa 1979 (age 1.5).
“Going horse riding on a beach in Ireland.” – Katherine
“Spending time with my parents.” – Yiwen
"Swimming at the beach, visiting as many Boston farmers’ markets as possible, and BBQing every weekend." – Katie
“Hiking in Yosemite!” – Sam
“Traveling with my family to a city we haven't been to before and watching the World Cup Final of soccer with lots of fans!” – Juan
“Enjoying the sunshine on the beach in Santa Monica!” – Meg
“Napping, spending time in nature under trees/next to water.” – Karmel
“Spending my mornings going for a run, followed by hanging at the pool (which I’ve been doing for decades), reading a good non-fiction book, and getting an early dinner. Work hard, rest hard.” – Erin
What was the best meal you ate this summer?
“The ‘Impossible Burger’ at the Dunn Lab outing!” [at State Park] – Katherine
"Fresh tomato and mozzarella salad." – Katie
“I love picking strawberries. After picking 13 pounds of berries, I made the most amazing batch of strawberry ice cream.” – Erin
“My mother recently surprised me with a baked salmon with an amazing mango salad." – Juan
“Dim sum!” – Meg
“It’s not quite a meal, but a strawberry-banana crepe cake.” – Aparna
“We went to the Herb Lyceum in Groton, MA - a cool renovated farmhouse on a small herb farm! They do a communal seating dinner which was super farm to table and delicious (highlights were salmon tartare and celery bisque!), really awesome atmosphere and really fun to get to meet new people over a shared table.” – Kristen
What was your most memorable summer?
“Last summer I was on co-op in New Zealand and hiked a few mountains and volcanoes. It was absolutely gorgeous! I saw 'Mt. Doom' (aka the real-life Mt. Ruapehu) from ‘The Lord of the Rings’.” – Sam
“I once did a summer internship in the remote island of New Caledonia. It’s the most beautiful place I have ever visited. My internship was about running statistical analysis to help build awareness about the fragile coral reef ecosystem. All my lunch breaks were at the beach, and everyone wore shorts and flip flops at work!”– Khalil
“One summer during college, I enrolled in a language program in Hokkaido with a host family for two months. I engaged in various cultural activities including mochi making, kendo, and Japanese tea ceremony. Needless to say, I also stuffed myself with plenty of awesome sushi, ramen, desserts, etc.” – Meg
“Summer of 2013 was pretty memorable as my whole family went on a trip to Japan. It was an amazing experience, such an interesting and innovative culture and society with incredible food! We were also able to meet distant relatives who still live in Japan, so it was great to feel a sort of connection to cultural, family roots.” – Kristen
Growing-up, were you a fan or foe of summer camp?
“Fan! I went to French camp for 3 years and horse camp for 5!” – Katherine
“A fan! I went to the 'town camp' run by our local rec department, where we made a lot of tie-die shirts and lanyard keychains. But I also went to 'farm camp,' which is exactly what it sounds like. We did everything from milking cows to planting vegetables.” – Aparna
“Not crazy about summer camp, but I went for a couple years. My favorite time was a canoe trip where we paddled across to our very own deserted island and stayed there for a few days, eating maple sugar oatmeal, pasta in a saucepan over the fire, and dipping in the lake.” – Karmel
“Total foe. My parents sent me to summer camp once when I was about 10. I was supposed to be there for 2 weeks, but begged them to come get me early. Thankfully they rescued me after about 3 days. That was just enough archery and bug juice for me.” – Erin
What are your favorite memories of summer from childhood?
“Spending summers at the beach with my parents and brother.” – Khalil
“Visiting different countries with the family and just relaxing at home.” –Meg
"I have a cousin who’s 7 years younger than me, and when he was a baby/toddler, my grandma would bring him to visit and stay at least 1 month every summer. To the 7-year-old me, a baby seemed like the most incredible thing – I loved observing how he learned to speak and walk, and acquired a massive amount of toy cars and pretended he owned a garage. This isn’t particularly summery, but because I’m an only child, having another kid in the same house was really fun!" – Yiwen
