Valerie Horsley
Postdoctoral Fellow, Fuchs Laboratory

I have been a postdoc at RU for just over a year. I became interested in becoming a PDA representative after working with the PDA representatives and postdocs this summer on the rent subsidy issue. Voicing our concerns to the administration about their policy change reinforced to me the importance of having a PDA that can interact with the administration to ensure that the issues of the postdoc community are addressed. I hope that in the future we can maintain our relationship with the administration to influence the Rockefeller University’s policies to improve the postdoc experience.

Sean Taverna
Postdoctoral Associate, Allis Laboratory

I never thought I’d make it here from Texas, where I spent my formative years. However, besides having to switch from breakfast tacos to bagels, New York’s not the big change I expected. Everyone here at RU says “Howdy” (or “How you doin’?”), and I know that the previous PDA reps and participants are largely responsible for that environment. As a new PDA representative, I hope to continue along these lines and help our community benefit from their RU experience. We’re all in this together, so if you have any ideas/issues/opinions, please let us know!