This week, the Simmons Research Lab was excited to celebrate two years with postdocs Dr. Madeline Polmear and Dr. Anh Chau. The fully vaccinated team gathered at a local outdoor venue for a lovely evening in Gainesville. Pictured below is Gainesville’s 4th Ave Food Park, a fun outdoor location with boho style decorations, beautiful plants and art, and an assortment of food options. The food park has a little of everything, from tacos to pizza to waffles and coffee. The waffles were some of the best the team had tried! It was with mixed emotions that the team gathered to celebrate the postdocs as both Dr. Chau and Dr. Polmear have been staple members of our lab. While we are beyond grateful for the work they have done, the lab will truly miss them as they leave us and embark on their future endeavors. Dr. Polmear has accepted a fellowship in Brussels, Belgium in engineering education and Dr. Chau plans to return to Vietnam. We know they will be successful in their future careers and lives and are so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such talented and hardworking individuals. Their mentorship and leadership have been pivotal to the lab, especially to the PhD and undergraduate students in SRL. Dr. Chau’s support in course development, quantitative methods, and training the PhD students on various technical aspects such as grading and operating Canvas, has been greatly appreciated. Dr. Polmear has provided amazing mentorship to the students as well, dedicating much of her busy schedule to meeting one-on-one with students, explaining theoretical and methodological concepts, providing training seminars, reviewing writing, and leading discussions on literature in our weekly reading groups. Both postdocs showed up every day with a positive attitude, strong motivation, and passion for our work. They stayed well engaged with the entire team, even as we transitioned to a virtual work environment and were always available to all of students in the lab. The Simmons Research Lab was truly honored to work with such competent and caring individuals, and we wish them nothing but good luck moving forward, though we know they will not need it.
