Community Community building with creativity and connections across Salk
In April, Salk employees joined our Engagement & Wellbeing team for a week of community-building. Salk employees and trainees were encouraged to step outside of their administrative offices or labs to engage with each other through a coffee hour, time capsule burial, creative salon, paper airplane competition, and more.
Strong personal connections foster trust, open communication, and creative collaboration, which are key to tackling complex scientific questions. In a close-knit environment like ours, these relationships fuel the bold, interdisciplinary work that defines Salk’s mission and accelerates our collective impact.
Plant Swap
It turns out Salk’s plant biologists aren’t the only Salk employees with a green thumb. In celebration of Earth Day, Salk employees enjoyed swapping plants, sharing gardening tips, and planting seeds to take home, cultivating growth in more ways than one.
A Glimpse of Us
The “A Glimpse of Us” series welcomes a leader on Salk’s campus to present for one hour about their background, career journey, passions, and more. Pek Sze Baird, supervisor of Events Operations, was already a familiar face around campus, but sharing her journey through dance and martial arts and her training in event planning gave the community a new appreciation for her. She emphasized the dedication of the staff members who work tirelessly behind the scenes to manage everything from scientific symposia to donor appreciation events.
Wellness Wednesdays
To support a healthier, more connected workplace, the Engagement & Wellbeing team offers Wellness Wednesdays—free yoga led by Salk’s own Megan Hollyfield of the Education Outreach team. By taking a break from our labs and offices during lunch, we’re able to strengthen not only our bodies but our sense of camaraderie, helping make Salk a more supportive and inspiring place to work.
Featured Stories
Michelle Chamberlain: Bringing together communities old and newChamberlain, whose lifelong commitment to others has shaped her journey to Salk, now serves as Salk’s vice president of External Relations, leading fundraising, communications, community engagement, foundation relations, and stewardship efforts.
Joseph Swift: Saving potatoes, one road trip at a timeSwift, a plant biologist and startup co-founder, had an adventurous upbringing in Australia filled with natural beauty. Today, he uses plant genomics to tackle urgent questions in sustainability and agriculture.
Building connections in cells, soils, and labsAssistant Professors Lena Mueller and Aga Kendrick joined the Salk Institute in January 2024 and November 2023. Less than two years later, their new labs are already celebrating their first published studies.
Empowering future scientists and advancing healthy aging researchThe Prebys Foundation empowers future scientists, while La Mer supports a fellowship advancing healthy aging research.
Community building with creativity and connections across SalkIn April, Salk’s Engagement & Wellbeing Week brought employees and trainees together for activities ranging from coffee hours to a paper airplane competition.