News and Upcoming Events
Dinner & Pub Night
Date | Venue: April 5th, 2024 | Jupiter & The Tap Haus
This month’s BLPA dinner & pub night will be taking place next Friday (April 5th)!
We will start at 6.30 pm at Jupiter (2181 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, next to Downtown BART shuttle stop) followed by The Tap Haus (2518 Durant Avenue, Berkeley).
Come for food (not on the house) and fun with your fellow postdocs and make awesome new friends. The event is open to people older than 21. Hope to see you there!
Extreme Hiking
When | Where: Saturday, April 13, 2024 | Pinnacles National Park
BLPA is excited to invite you to a hike at the Pinnacles National Park on April 13, 2024. We are going to hike the Condor Gulch Trail to High Peaks Trail Loop, which is a 5.6-miles-long trail with 1633 ft elevation gain and takes an average of 3 h 20 min to complete according to All trails app. We will probably take around 5 or more hours to complete it as a group with lunch breaks. This trail includes caves, beautiful rock formations, and the sight of rare California condors.
Before committing to this hike, it is essential to carefully consider and plan ahead. Please consider your fitness level before signing up. This trail is rated as difficult on the All-Trails app, featuring numerous narrow passages through rocks that may not be suitable for individuals with claustrophobia. Additionally, there are steep and narrow segments requiring precise footwork. To secure parking spots, we’ll depart from our meeting point at 5:30 am, aiming to arrive at the trailhead by approximately 8 am. The drive from Berkeley to the trailhead is estimated to take around 2.5 hours, and each hiker will be expected to contribute approximately $20 to cover fuel and park entrance fees. Secure your spot now by filling up the registration form available here.
Details about the hike: Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024 || Meeting Time: 5:15 AM || Departure Time: 5:30 AM || Meeting Point: University Hall West Lot, 2123 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704
What to bring: National or any park pass if you have one || Please bring food for a picnic-style lunch, snacks, and plenty of water || Sunny weather is expected, and some parts of the trail does not provide any shade || Please dress accordingly (layers, hiking boots), pack some sun protection but be also prepared for a weather change || Participants should bring a headlight or torch for illumination.
Challenging hike
When | Where: Saturday, April 27 | Murietta Falls
BLPA is excited to invite you to a full-day and challenging hike to the Murrieta Falls in Del Valle and Ohlone Regional Parks on Saturday, April 27, 2024. This is one of the toughest one-day hikes in the Bay area with the length of about 12.3 miles (19.8 km) and 4229 ft (1289 m) elevation gain and it will take around 8 hours to finish.
To join this hike, experience with hiking and a high fitness level is required. The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 12 people.
More details are given in the registration form here.
Slack Fun Space
We have launched a new Slack “fun space” for all LBNL and affiliated postdocs.
We have dedicated spaces to chat about housing, healthcare, taxes, COVID-19 & vaccination, hobbies & events, food, movies & tv, childcare, sell or buy stuff and even to post photos of your pets! Sign up here and join the conversation.
Past events
Thanksgiving Pot Luck Lunch
Hiking: Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Hiking: Mt. Tallac
Hiking: Berkeley Hills
Hiking: Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park
Hiking: Muir Woods
Bouldering
Hiking: Inspiration Point
Resources
BLPA Board
BLPA is made up of volunteers – and we are always looking to grow! Are you interested? Do you want to know about the inner workings of BLPA and contribute to the postdoc community, building a larger network? Please contact us (postdoc (at) lbl.gov) or sign up to check out one of our many committees!
Bernard Field
Co-chair
Archana Yadav
Co-chair
Kshitiz Gupta
Coordinator, Social Committee
Soumyadeep Ghosh
Coordinator–Outreach Committee, Treasurer & Webmaster
Trisha Kishore Bhagde
Coordinator, Lab-Industry Networking Connection (LINC) Committee
Mauricio Lopez Luna
Board Member
BLPA Committees
We are always on the lookout for new events that could be fun and that we can bring to the postdoc community together as well as enthusiastic individuals interested in serving the postdoc community. If you have any ideas for events, please let us know by email to postdoc@lbl.gov or by dropping a line to a board member you know. If you’d like to volunteer with BLPA, please fill out this form.
Social Committee
Social Committee puts together a wide variety of events to enrich the postdocs’ personal lives and support networking among postdocs in a social context. We organize social events and outdoor activities including movie nights, game nights, hikes, pub nights, meet & greet events as well as a labmate program for new postdocs and we are happy to include new ideas. Join us to support social interactions among postdocs at Berkeley Lab.
Outreach Committee
Outreach Committee focuses on self development and diversity & inclusion activities including brown bag seminars (postdoc-to-postdoc, science café, cultural lunch) as well as coffee with postdocs blogs, outreach events and workshops. We also enhance communication between the BLPA Board and nation-wide postdoc community and foster networking and collaborative communication across divisions. Join us in preparing seminars, workshops, blog posts, newsletters while improving your science communication and public speaking skills.
Lab-Industry Networking Connection (LINC) Committee
LINC committee organizes tech talks, company site visits, networking events and career fairs to educate postdocs about careers beyond academia and facilitate effective networking between postdocs and industry partners. Join us if you are interested in expanding your professional network and exploring opportunities beyond academia while improving your communication, networking, leadership, time and project management skills.