Meet MCR: Nathan Paquette

Name: Nathan Paquette

Position: Metrologist 

How long have you been with MCR? 

2.1 years 

Why did you choose to work here? 

I was already in the cannabis industry and I thought I could have more of an impact. And I also thought it would be more interesting to be on the analytical side of cannabis rather than the procurement, packaging and processing which is very simple. 

What is your favorite part of the job?

It’s constantly changing and evolving. There’s no one day that’s alike for myself here. It’s always trying to troubleshoot and figure out a new issue or problem and that drives me to always be better in my craft. Also, I like being able to participate in fun experiments. For example, right now I am testing the relationship between arsenic and phosphorus on some plants at home. I am submitting those to be tested soon and I will be presenting my findings at the cannabis science fair in December, which I am stoked about. 

What does your typical work day look like? 

 My typical work day can be kind of hectic because we are getting to a place where I am very proactive but there are things that I still have to be very reactive about. So, it would typically be scanning for tickets and making sure that I go over any critical downs or any instrument issues that come up for us. Going about my daily duties of cataloging, and just making sure that everything is uniform and normalized for data. And then making sure that if we have done anything instrument-wise mechanically, that we have all the work listed out in some sort of log book so we can trace that information and use it later for our advantage. 

What’s your relationship with cannabis? 

I am a recreational user but I now do see that there are more medical benefits to it. 

 I currently use CBD, CBG on like a daily basis. It helps me with some of my lower back pain but also as a recreational user I like it because I get to grow and fine-tune my own crop at home.

How did you get into growing? 

I got into growing initially because I had a couple friends who worked in the cannabis industry.

After seeing a couple people’s homegrown and how simple it could be – it could be a light, a solo cup, some dirt and a plant, maybe some water too – that’s all you really need.

 It was a money reason but it was more so I could create a higher-quality product for myself than I was able to purchase at the time. 

What is your favorite strain? 

I really like this strain called Full Metal Jacket 1. It smells like  shoe rubber glue. If you’ve ever opened a new box of Nikes, that’s exactly what it smells like – That bottom sole smell it has, it just hits you and it’s kind of like a gorilla glue. It’s nice and sticky. It kind of sticks and pulls apart rather than the ones I see from a cookie strain, where it’s kind of like sand. 

What do you like to do outside of work?

I like to grow cannabis, I like to go skiing, I like to go hiking. And I really do enjoy my electric bike.

What is your favorite song/artist? 

Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd