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SPiRE

SPiRE is an organization of students and fellows at the Meakins-Christie Labs. Our aim is to welcome new recruits to life at the Meakins and organize a variety of academic and social activities throughout the year.

All students at the Meakins-Christie Labs, as well as post-docs and research fellows, are members of SPiRE. No membership fees, no questions asked. Also, all research assistants, technicians, staff and principal investigators can join in any activities that SPiRE organizes. We are also the social activities arm of the whole Meakins-Christie Labs.

The role of the council is to organize the various activities held throughout the year. The council is also there to help with any questions or issues regarding life at the Meakins and in Montreal more generally.

Follow SPiRE on INSTAGRAM @spire.rimuhc

What does SPiRE do?

SPiRE’s aim is to welcome new recruits to life at the Meakins (and help them settle into Montreal) and to hold activities for all Meakinites (new and old). Furthermore, our other (and actually first) purpose is to voice any suggestions for improvements or other concerns to the Meakins administration. Our goal is to ensure that any conflicts or other problems are resolved in a rapid and constructive manner. So if you have questions or concerns, come and see us!

On the social side, we organize a variety of activities throughout the year to help integrate new members into the Meakins community. We also give current members an opportunity to do something other than research. These events include (but are not limited to) ice cream parties, an annual Halloween party, hiking trips, a visit to the Cabane à Sucre, the Christmas party, and, of course, movie nights right here at the Meakins. All of our activities are open to past and present Meakins/SPiRE members, as well as their friends and family.

Of course, we participate in organizing different academic activities throughout the year as well. Yes, it is possible to be social within the context of scientific discussion!

Official SPiRE Logos

For awhile SPiRE did not have an official logo per se, but instead a creative brush was taken to the official Meakins-Christie Labs logo and made it our own. Warning: These different logos have found their way into presentations given at the Meakins, so be on the lookout for them (Work-in-Progress, Journal Club, even some Research seminars)!

Updated LOGO as of 2023!

Some of our Past and Retired Logos

students and postdocs in respiration: SPiRE

Here is the retired SPiRE logo (March 14th, 2008; created by Harry Karmouty and was selected by popular vote):

SPiRE’s versions of the Meakins logo, in order of appearance: Pizza, Wine, Ice Cream, Breast Cancer, Christmas and the ever-so-popular animated version of the wine-drinking logo. Thanks to Pierre Fiset (who did the work) and Roberto Gil (who gave him moral support) for their logo contributions.