She was among a small number of Janelia employees who never stopped coming in to work in the pandemic.

She was among a small number of Janelia employees who never stopped coming in to work in the pandemic.

It's in a virtual reality space," explains Jayaraman in his lab at the Janelia Research Campus, part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Matt Staley/Janelia Research Campus.

Vivek Jayaraman is head of Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience at Janelia.

Before the pandemic, Janelia had about 750 people on campus, working to answer big questions in brain science, cell biology and microscopy.

"The way things are going right now with cases and vaccination, we are looking forward to holding to that date," says Ron Vale, Janelia's executive director.

In the pandemic, Jayaraman realized how critical those conversations are to his thinking process.

Left: Ron Vale, executive director of the Janelia Research Campus, hopes to have all employees back in the building by late September.

Left: Ron Vale, executive director of the Janelia Research Campus, hopes to have all employees back in the building by late September.

"We wanted people actually to have lunch together," says Vale, as he orders an eggplant ragout sandwich to go.

After canceling all in-person events and conferences last year, Janelia created an online seminar series that drew in people from around the world, including those from smaller institutions and farther-flung places

"With the remote world now, the energy barrier for getting people to communicate obviously is a lot lower," says Vale

Graduate research fellow Virginia Rutten looks forward to the day the campus pub known as Bob's reopens and random conversations return

Graduate research fellow Virginia Rutten looks forward to the day the campus pub known as Bob's reopens and random conversations return

Graduate research fellow Virginia Rutten found another silver lining this past year

"You just feel that everyone's a little more relaxed, has that time to explain that extra thing to you," says Rutten, who studies larval zebrafish