Chinese New Year is the start of Chinese calender also known as the Lunar New Year. In Southeast Asia, this is often accompanied by Yusheng or the tossing of a Prosperity salad. It includes many shredded vegetables, sweet sauces, condiments and raw fish (we used smoked salmon). These are tossed up together in a group to welcome the new year with good fortune.

ReproLab members and folk from our neighbouring labs joined in for our own prosperity toss. So what did we scientists say? Here's to good health (lab safety), wealth (research grants) and prosperity (publications).

Huat ah!

We made a trip out to the local Citizen Farm to check out the their operation of organic waste recycling using Black Soldier Flies (BSFs). BSF larvae are voracious eaters and can break down nearly 50-70% of organic material and convert 10-12% of that waste into biomass of protein and fats that can be used for animal feed. In our lab, we're interested in the reproductive traits in these flies and we're keen on learning how to optimize fecundity and fertility to increase efficiency and nutrient cycling.