On March 25-26, 2017, The University of Utah hosted the first ever PAC-12 Lab Managers and Demonstrators Conference, a collaboration between PAC-12 universities with the purpose of improving lab management by working together and learning from each other. The idea behind the conference was to get the demonstrators and lab managers – the people involved in the day to day operations of the lab – together in one room to let them share their operations and experiences so that everyone could walk away with better ideas, a larger pool of resources, and a future of potential collaborations. Six out of the twelve schools participated, and there will be plenty of opportunities for future cooperations, as the conference is expected to continue biannually.

Top row: Catherine Skibo (USC), Agnes Szarzec-Larsen (UofU), David Thomas (UofU), Michael Burand (OR State), Andrea Carrol (University of Washington),
Jenna Moser (OR State), Beatriz Smith (AZ State), Richard Nafshun (OR State), Roger Leonard (University of Oregon)
Bottom row: Jeff Statler (UofU), Randy Sullivan (University of Oregon), Michelle Kearns (AZ State)