When I was in my first year of university, I had to buy my very own lab coat. I quickly decided it would not remain clean and white, and that I would draw on it with my beloved sharpie markers.

What started as a few favorite band logos (Queen and Guns N Roses, naturally), the flying spaghetti monster, and handprints on my butt, became a long term art project. Every year I have added a few more drawings. The subjects are mostly pets, colorful designs, and bizarre animals I have learned about in classes.

When I came to grad school, I no longer needed a lab coat. Sure, I wore it to a few intro bio lectures, but it isn’t required for any of the work that I do. So it has hung on the back of my door, sad and lonely, for over two years.

Feeling inspired to break out the sharpies once again, I added a few more drawings over the blizzard weekend (we got 35″ of snow here!). Since the early drawings are representative of “me” in my college years, I figured I should have some that represent “grad school me”. So I added some of my study organisms, and my pet bunnies.

Do you have any suggestions for other little drawings to add? I’d love to keep filling in the white space! I’ll take some pictures of the entire lab coat soon.

(the Wag Lab tagline is a bit of a joke around here – “servicing the caterpillars” means feeding them and cleaning the containers, and Dave has been here since 1988)