So evidently I'm having an attitude problem of late. I try to thing of something to blog about & it just comes out negative, so I guess I'll just roll with it, like the rest of life. Team Nearshore just got back from the Pacific Estuarine Research Society Meeting. It was quite an experience. I thought I pretty much knew what I was in for as I have a long, long history with veterinary conferences but- as it turns out- it was kind of a whole different thing. The talks are only ~15 minutes long each & tend to be pretty specific in topic, like about a specific grad or other research project. So for someone of my little experience it was difficult to get oriented to the topics- I just found that I didn't know enough about eel grass or zooplankton etc to get as much out of it as someone who had a broader knowledge base in the marine world. I guess that is probably the same at vet conferences, much of the difference is probably the knowledge base that I already had through lots of experience & also from conferences. Veterinary conferences come in many shapes & sizes so it is not difficult to find topics that are aimed at audiences with different levels of experience. Hopefully I will find this to be more the case at the American Fisheries Society conference that we are leaving for tomorrow bright & early. I don't know about that tho- in reality what I know about fish could be probably be written on a 3x5- okay maybe not quite but you get the gist, my knowledge base isn't really any stronger.

I did meet some great people, 2 in particular made helpful comments on my project & poster. Someone by the last name of Emmett who does forage fish research along the coast & another gentleman who works for a private environmental consulting company had some great thoughts on the sediment work. Only one person seemed a little overly aggressive with her questioning.

Anyway it's all a great learning experience & I certainly know a lot more than I did last week. The best part was the dinner at the aquarium in Newport- I forget the name at the moment but it is a beautiful facility. I loved all the different rockfish & everything else. The hotel was also great, beautiful ocean view/ balcony- I ended up with a huge room to myself. It was sad to not be able to really get out to the beach- it was all go, go, go. If only I was an early riser & not feeling so thoroughly sleep deprived at the moment!

So thank you to Dwight, Karen, Anne & all the people who provided funding & support to get us to the conferences. I'm a little jealous of the snow teams conference plans- I have the feeling their group won't be quite as stressed out on their travels:)