If you are looking for the story of how the Quarmby Lab came to be, you might want to read the ASCB profile of LQ, found here. The article nicely (and generously) tells the story of her evolution from a kid playing in tide pools through the twists and turns of an academic career to the happy place of the Quarmby Lab at SFU.

LQ does the usual professorial stuff. She chairs the departmental seminar committee, peer reviews manuscripts and grants (currently serving on a CIHR review panel), travels to conferences and to give seminars, and teaches undergrad and grad classes (she’s got a bit of a passion for teaching – see more here). And she writes. Too many grant proposals, not enough manuscripts, and a few essays. Her essays can be found in the Nonfiction pages of the on-line literary magazine, Numéro Cinq ( Stem Cells and the Fountain of Youth, Reasons to Rejoice in Green Algae, Chatting with ET: Dialogue between The Actual and The Possible, and, A Feeling for the Model Organism). We are not sure what direction LQ’s new blog, The Crux will go, perhaps you will participate.

Occasionally LQ escapes the pull of her computer to do other things. She likes to garden and when she lost her expansive yard after a recent move she discovered that a balcony garden suits her just fine. LQ walks the seawall frequently and gets up into the mountains as often as possible. We have heard a rumor that LQ paints abstract watercolours but she hasn’t shown us a new one in awhile.