Lab Meetings

The Day The World (and the Lab) Changed

In March of 2020, the whole world went online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The LCSRG was no exception. For the in-person labbies, this was a new way of interacting with the lab. For the long-distance labbies, it was like coming home and finally sitting at the dinner table altogether. The lab quickly realized that a fully virtual format was more ideal and accessible for all labbies, especially those located hundreds of miles away from Lafayette, Louisiana (the physical place where the lab began). We've never looked back since.

Further Apart but Closer than Ever

Once shutdown ended and the humans of the world began occupying those in-person spaces they missed so much, the LCSRG remained virtual. There was a hesitation we felt when imagining going back to in-person lab meetings. At this point, there were more long-distance labbies than "local" labbies in Louisiana. Virtual lab meetings meant talking to labbies who lived in different states, different time zones, different countries on a regular basis. We had access to each other in a way that we never had before. And it was intentional. It was how we stayed connected with every labbie in every unique place they called home. We got each other through the pandemic. Sometimes, a lab meeting was the only time folks had the opportunity to "hang out" with others who cared about the same things they did. Giving that up just didn't feel right. 

The Bottom Line

So, lab meetings remain completely virtual to this day and are hosted on Friday afternoons (excluding holidays!) on Zoom during the fall (mid-August to early December) and spring semesters (mid-January to early May). There are no official lab meetings during winter intercession or summer break, but that doesn't mean the lab goes completely dormant. Labbies are always up to something, all you have to do is ask. Below is the Zoom link where lab is hosted, along with some COVID-era screenshots of lab meetings.. Though, lab meetings today look pretty much the same.