Contessa Ricci’s News & Updates
13 Dec 2022
Tissue harvesting complete
Big collaborative lab effort to harvest salmon tissues - big thank you to everyone that helped!
We harvested the tissues in a food-safe environment thanks to WSU’s meat lab facilities. Fillets were vacuum sealed and stored so that meat didn’t go to waste!
We were able to collect tissues for both current and future studies. I am very grateful that we were able to use each fish in non-wasteful ways :)
11 Nov 2022
Engaged!
My partner of three years proposed and I said yes! No wedding date yet, we are just enjoying being engaged :D
It’s lab grown diamond accented by peridot, which is a crystal formed in volcanic rock and was first described from Hawai‘i!
07 Nov 2022
Funds awarded for salmon cook off
Internal funding awarded to host a salmon cookoff in Pullman, Washington! This event will celebrate the rich cultural heritage of local Indigenous peoples (centering on Pacific salmon), and educate the general public and WSU students, faculty, staff on the importance of restoring and protecting Pacific salmon for future generations. Wild-caught salmon sourced from local Tribes and Nations will be prepared for attendees while educational talks are held by individuals of Indigenous First Nations descent, and WSU researchers working in salmon conservation.
21 Oct 2022
Sample collection trip completed
Road trip around the western side of Puget Sound to pick up coho salmon sourced from the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, the Squaxin Island Tribe, the Nisqually Indian Tribe, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. It was a long drive, but man, it was beautiful! Samples will be used in a study investigating salmon nutritional content in relation to their environment.
Mar 2022
Poster presentation at SRI 2022
Attended SRI 2022! Mar 14-19 2022, Society for Reproductive Investigation
Listened to some amazing talks and met some amazing people! Plus it was really fun to spend time with the Goulopoulou lab again <3
Jan 2022
Moved to Pullman, WA!
Road trip from Fort Worth, TX to Pullman, WA 1/12/22 - 1/18/22
Highlights:
Road tripped in a rented RV - pretty rough, do not recommend renting RVs
Our dog has now traveled the entire length of the contiguous US! (in separate trips: trip from Fort Worth to Florida for Christmas 2020, then road trip from Fort Worth to Pullman)
Took a detour through the Avenue of the Giants in Northern California! I love the redwoods, and it was fun showing off my alma mater (Cal Poly, Humboldt!)
Stopped to spend a few days with family in Long Beach and our dog touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time :D
We arrived in Pullman before our moving box, so we were without our belongings in the dead of winter for about a week. It was rough, we ended up buying our dog a pretty expensive dog bed because it looked so sad.
Eventually settled in and got going in the lab! (I have a disability so rest is really important for keeping me at full capacity)
