This week marked the start of my residence in Taipei, as an invited researcher in Prof. Chuan-Chou “River” Shen’s HiSpec laboratory at National Taiwan University. I will spend September, October, and November working with Prof. Shen and his students to analyse the elemental composition of coral carbonate samples, as well as developing novel methods of radiometrically dating wood materials. I’m very excited to work with Prof. Shen and his students, and am tremendously grateful for such an amazing opportunity!