SPOTLIGHT ON: MIA D. UNSON
Mia D. Unson is how classmate "Margarita"
is now known, although many of us already called her Mia back then. That is how she thinks of herself, the name she uses professionally,
the name under which she publishes, and the name she will likely still use if she gets married! Mia has been living
in San Diego, CA for the last sixteen years. Except for a 2 1/2 year stint in Hawaii, San Diego has been home
for her: "a big city with distinct neighborhoods, a strong academic/ research community, near-perfect weather, lots of outdoorsy
things, and it's dog-friendly." To inaugurate this SPOTLIGHT section, I thought I should train it on Mia. Read
on!
I went to graduate school here at the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography and received my Ph.D. (Oceanography/Marine Chemistry) in 1993. I did two postdoctoral fellowships and
then went into industry. Last year, I decided on a lateral change of careers and went full time into something I had
enjoyed as a postdoc and while in industry: patent law. This was to the undisguised dismay of my Ph.D. advisers (who
universally consider lawyers lower than worms) -- in spite of my assuring them that I had no plans of going to law school
and that I was going to work as a patent agent, and not a patent attorney. I passed the patent bar last year and am
now a registered patent agent working with a boutique intellectual property law firm. If you have any patent-related
or biotech questions, let me know!
Mia has two "furkids": German shorthaired pointers (GSP)-- she shows
them, hunts over them and thinks they are "total cuddlebugs." She is active in three dog clubs (two GSP clubs, one hunting
dog club) and is on the board of directors and incoming president for one GSP club, newsletter editor for the hunting dog
club, and helps out with GSP rescue whenever she can. People always ask Mia if she wants "two-legged kids". Mia says: I like
older kids and maybe I will adopt one some day. So you think Mia has a full, busy life? We're not done yet.
I like to cook and host small, informal dinners. Recipes? I
have a ton and I am actually putting together a collection of my own recipes. I LOVE wine. My friends and
I do wine dinners or tastings fairly often. I am also working my way back into the local music community but am not
sure yet whether I will be joining a Renaissance choral group or a shape-note singing group. I sang for several years
in an a capella group that I co-founded at UC San Diego. We sang mostly mediaeval and Renaissance polyphone, and the occasional
very modern avant-garde piece. I was riding again in Hawaii and want to get back into that. I was always pony-mad and
I guess I still haven't outgrown that. Luckily San Diego is a good place for horses and in fact, there is a big equestrian
center (we're talking Olympic riders) about three miles from where I work.
I loved getting to know Mia, a childhood
friend, all over again. For days, I walked around the office calling all the attorneys "worms." We'd love to hear all
about you too, so send us SPOTLIGHTS! -- MFB
