Two pieces of advice:
1) You really only live once, so take the plunge and apply if you are thinking about it! Don't wait for the 'right' time, it's almost never the exact 'right' time, but you'll make it work.
2) It's also never too late, if you're going back to school after an undergraduate degree or you are going back to school after years in the workforce, you are in the right spot!
My specialization is Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare of Farm Animals. My research and teaching focus on how various housing and management practices affect the behavioural biology and welfare of farm animals.
Make sure your decisions are based on a meaningful purpose. The phrase “What you put in is what you get out” is what I return to repeatedly. It applies to you as a person, the work you do, and the food you make. You need purpose to make anything of consequence happen. It’s been over a decade since I made my first decisions to enter the field of food safety, and I’m even more committed to it today than I was then.
Language is in a constant process of change. Understanding the hows and whys of change and the effects it has on society can help us better understand each other as human beings.
I feel lucky to have been able to be involved in many different projects at the University of Guelph. My advice to future grad students is to get involved in as many different things as you can and to not be afraid to reach out to people. A lot of the fun in a graduate degree is being able to collaborate and work with lots of different people.
My research is in the area of nuclear physics, using the atomic nucleus as a laboratory to understand the fundamental forces of nature, the origins of the elements in the Universe, and how simple patterns emerge from complex systems.
