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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 5407761, member: 81887&quot;]I&#039;m a fairly private person, but reading all the excellent posts in this thread has moved me to share at least a little about myself.&nbsp; I was born in 1972 and grew up in a pleasant New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia.&nbsp; My family is of Italian origin on both sides (with some Irish and English mixed in on my father&#039;s side), but while most of my extended relatives are Roman Catholic my parents, sister and I were Society of Friends (Quakers).&nbsp; While today I am not traditionally religious, I still hold to many core Quaker values including the search for the Inner Light in every person, a commitment to social justice, and a preference for peaceful solutions to conflict.</p><p><br /></p><p>I attended a small liberal-arts college where I earned my Bachelor&#039;s degree in Biology, then moved on to graduate school.&nbsp; I received my Master&#039;s in Molecular Biology and spent a couple more years in the Ph.D. program, but left without receiving my doctorate.&nbsp; Part of my reason for leaving was due to problems with my advisor, but I also found that the way graduate education in general works, with its vague endpoints and ultra-high pressure, was just not for me.&nbsp; Fortunately I did not lose my love for science, and I have since been working in academic labs ever since.&nbsp; For the last 10 years I have been a laboratory manager in a research lab at a major biomedical university in Baltimore that you&#039;ve definitely heard of.&nbsp; I work with a PI (Primary Investigator) who is the Professor in charge of our lab group of about ten people, basically as an Executive Officer type.&nbsp; I take care of most of the day-to-day duties in the lab (ordering supplies, making stock solutions, getting equipment fixed) as well as helping out in experiments as needed and editing and writing manuscripts.&nbsp; I have co-authored about a dozen papers over the years, including both original research and review articles.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have quite a few other interests besides coins- there are just too many interesting things in the world to focus too much on just one hobby!&nbsp; I am a birder, and my life-list is at 462 species (which sounds impressive, until you learn there are 10,000 living species, so I still have never seen over 95% of bird species).&nbsp; I collect fossils and other natural history objects (minerals, shells, bones).&nbsp; I love movies (both true classics and &quot;so bad they&#039;re good&quot; films), especially in the sci-fi genre.&nbsp; And, whenever I have a moment to spare, I am a voracious reader, especially books on history.&nbsp; And occasionally I sleep.<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, I hope that helps you understand me a bit better.&nbsp; Feel free to ask me other questions- I&#039;ll answer if it doesn&#039;t feel too personal.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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