NZ Science Conference

I think I have a science hangover!  I've spent the last 2.5 days recovering from an amazing, but intense, science conference.

The New Zealand Marine Science Society (NZMSS) held a join conference with the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society (OCS) in Auckland.  And it was GREAT!  So many talks about climate induced stresses, marine mammals, fisheries, otolith isotope and ring analysis, sharks and rays, and even some genetics too.   I didn't take my camera, which meant one less thing to carry with me between talks.  However, there are a few photos to be found if you search for the #NZMSS2015 tag or check out the NZMSS Facebook page.

The travel was easy - 1 hour flight from Wellington to Auckland.  We even got free wine and cheese on the return trip (NZ wine and NZ cheese are phenomenal, so this is a big win!). So that's not why I need to recover.  And, to be honest, I probably wouldn't be so worn out if I had taken less advantage of the free evening booze!  But - that's what makes conferences so fun; the inebriated networking!

The science hangover comes from the constant input of interesting science at a very intense pace.  While we had plenty of coffee/tea breaks with delicious snacks and lunches, the line up of 15 minute talks for 2 hours was pretty gruelling.  The upshot was, there was three rooms of talks to choose from, which meant that you had a chance to get up and move between speakers.  Which does a lot to wake you up.

I didn't present a talk, but a a lot of my fellow students did.  They were amazing!  Two of them won prizes for best talks!!!  I didn't win the poster award :(  But there was some strong competition.

The highlight of the conference for me was seeing my name in the references (and as a photo credit) on one of DoC's posters!  My habitat classification scheme is officially out there!  Judging from the number of talks that focused on habitat classification and mapping, the sooner we finalize and publish the scheme for use the better!  We have plans to polish up the classification (based on input from recent use) and send it out to institutions for comment.  I'm so lucky and stoked to be part of the process!!

Despite my best intentions to hit the ground running on my return, this blog is my first effort at productivity since I've returned.  I've been binging on movies and catching up on my online comics! Tomorrow, though, it's back to the grind with PCR's and DNA extractions.  Until then....I might have to go rent another movie to get me through the day.