Who are you quarantined with?
With my family: my husband and 2 daughters, one college age and one high school.
How have your days changed since physical/social distancing became the new normal?
Go to bed later and get up later. I’m taking on MIT students’ schedule, because I no longer have to get up early to beat the traffic! I now have time to make nice fresh-air walks. Super-fast and super-pleasant commute to MIT when I come on campus! I check in my lab’s spectrometers a few times a week.
What do you miss most about the MIT Campus?
I miss the students. My own grad students as well as the 5.111 undergrads I teach!
What are you most looking forward to about the return to the “regularly scheduled program”?
Seeing the students! I don’t miss the administrative meetings.
What are some aspects of this moment in time that you are grateful for?
Fresh air walk, time for exercises, time to hang out with family, getting to know my neighbors better, a better work life balance, and super easy commute!
What are some new or preexisting activities/hobbies/research ventures that you’ve taken on while being in quarantine?
Great time to write papers, and jump starting COVID-19 research!
How have you been maintaining social connections while practicing social distancing?
Zoom, zoom, and zoom. Then just about every day, go to and chat with my favorite neighborhood coffee shop owners, deli place owners, and take-out Japanese restaurant owners.
What will you remember most about daily life during this global pandemic?
Great spring weather and quiet streets for walk and run, and not having long commutes! I will miss these when we resume normalcy :).