How do scientists share their most recent research? By presenting at scientific conferences and meetings! Many professional organizations host annual or bi-annual conferences to share common-interest research. In February and March, I presented my research at two conferences, read on to find out more about each!
20th Western Groundfish Conference
February 13-16, 2018 in Seaside, California
Western Groundfish conference attendees study the biology, ecology and population dynamics of West Coast groundfish species. This conference meets every two years at a different location along the U.S. West Coast (including Alaska!). What is a groundfish you ask? It’s any species that is associated with benthic (bottom) marine habitat. Think halibut, rockfish, skates and rays, lingcod, etc. I presented my research studying the effects of food and water temperature on Rosy Rockfish reproduction. Attending conferences is also a great way to connect and re-connect with researchers and colleagues in your field that do similar work all over the country!
52nd Annual Cal-Neva AFS Meeting
February 28 – March 2, 2018, San Luis Obispo, California
Cal-Neva is a sub-division of the American Fisheries Society (AFS). This scientific community has broad interests in both freshwater and marine fish and fisheries throughout the United States. I saw many great talks on freshwater and anadromous fish research in California, and a few marine talks, including mine!
I am the 2018 secretary for the Santa Cruz-Monterey Bay Area Sub-unit of AFS, which is a group of fish-minded students at my university. This year, our group was awarded a travel grant to attend the Cal-Neva meeting and we were also awarded the Best Student Sub-unit! Our members continued to rock the awards throughout the meeting, including sweeping the Best Student Presentations: 1st place-Megan Sabal, 2nd place- Katherine Dale, 3rd place- me!! Congrats to us all!
For a creative idea on how to take notes at a conference or meeting, our group’s President, Katherine Dale, has perfected the art (literally!) of “sketchnotes”. She shared her sketchnotes from my presentation, which look fantastic! Kat studies eel larvae, check out her website here. Thanks for sharing Kat!
Sabrina G. Beyer 