Amber Carte Bio
Dear WBAALAS members,
I wanted to take a moment to remind and encourage all who are national members to vote for the open National AALAS positions this year of Vice President Elect, District 8 Trustee and District 8 Trustee Alternate. I am running to serve as your D8 Trustee and of course would appreciate your vote. When the ballots come out please take the time to read the position statements and bio’s for myself and my esteemed colleagues, Stephen Durkee and Penny Noel. If you are a national member, you should receive an e-mail from the national office with instructions and links for voting in June. Your vote is very important to AALAS so please be sure to participate.
Cheers,
Amber Carte
Amber Carte BS, RLATg, CMAR
Before you vote
Get to know Washington Branch member and District 8 Trustee candidate
Amber Carte
How did you get involved with WBAALAS? One of my yearly reviews recommended that I get involved locally. I knew Cindy Pekow was involved with the WBAALAS so at the next opportunity I introduced myself and asked how I could help and after that they put me to work quickly!
What positions have you held in the AALAS community? I’ve wore many of the WBAALAS hats including newsletter editor, board member and president. I chaired the 2008 District 8 meeting here in Seattle and was the Publicity Chair for the 2013 District 8 meeting. For National AALAS I served on the Certificate and Registry Board from 2009-2012.
When did you realize that you wanted to work with lab animals? I was doing a capture/recapture project with muskrats on a refuge in Montana. It was early spring and heavy sleet hit one night and the high waters dislodged one of my live traps. I could see it down stream and that it had a muskrat in it struggling to stay out of the water. I took the early morning swim! While drying off on the shore the muskrat and I both decided there were warmer career paths.
Where do you work and what is your current position? I manage the small animal unit (rodents) at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
What is your level of AALAS certification? LATg and CMAR
What is your philosophy behind the work you do? I believe in always trying to go one step above what was necessary to complete the job. If you need to clean the dust off the shelf, you might as well organize it while you’re at it.
What are your strengths? I am a natural puzzler so problem solving and creative thinking are where I excel and it is what I love to do. Between my job and AALAS activities I have always got a puzzle to work on.
What do you want to accomplish in District 8? Our branch covers a lot of territory and has branches of every size. I’d like to foster our branches reaching out to each other more and sharing what works and what challenges they have had, and to help brainstorm new adventures.
What advice do you have for others entering the field? Get certified and get involved! The process of going through the tests opens your mind to all aspects of our field which you can forget about when you work with only a few species. Lab animal science truly has a strong community that is willing to lend a hand. As you get involved you connect with peers and build a support network, you find people willing to mentor you along the path to achieving you goals and we have lots of fun events!
What is one thing people might not know about you? I designed the logos for the 2008, 2013 District 8 meetings as well as the current logo for WBAALAS.
What companion animals do you have? We have two cats, Tate and Alex, and two dogs a Great Dane named Shorty and a Catahoula leopard hound/ Labrador mix named Angel.
