Family reunion

Friends, I am so behind. It has been almost two weeks since my last post, and I have wanted to tell you about my experiences but just been too busy having them to stop and write. For starters, I spent a weekend in Michigan with family and friends, some of whom I had not seen in a year or more. My mother threw me a bridal shower, and it was great to reunite with my Midwestern family.

Attendees of the 15th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium in
Monterey, California. I'm in the middle of the front row,
wearing an orange dress.

With Deborah at Hopkins Marine Station

I returned to Woods Hole for a very short time and then headed west again for a week in California. I have spent the last week in Monterey, California, at the 15th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium - another type of family reunion, if you will. I stayed at the apartment of a former WHOI intern, Deborah, and it was lovely to reconnect with her and hear about her upcoming graduate school applications. I spent the first few days of the conference just scanning the room for familiar faces, catching up with scientists I had been to sea with before, and tackling friends with hugs. My former PhD advisor was there with his new student. A Portuguese postdoc I worked with in Oregon came to the symposium, and so did a Polish woman I worked with in the Arctic. It was wonderful to catch up with them. Deep-sea biologist are some of the most intelligent, creative, passionate people on the planet. As a group, we are collaborative and curious and supportive. Altogether, there were 405 attendees from 34 countries - one big, eclectic family.

Delivering my presentation at DSBS 2018. Photo by
Deborah Leopo.

Besides connecting with colleagues, the best part of the symposium was discussing science. I presented my results from a long-term experiment on recruitment and succession of Arctic deep-sea invertebrates, and as soon as I finished speaking, I was approached by three different people with really informative, helpful points that will push my work forward. One woman offered insights based on her expertise in sponge taxonomy. A man who I had met once before pointed out I should compare my results to similar experiments in Antarctica. A student who had begun working on a similar topic in Alaskan waters asked my advice on her data. They were really progressive discussions.

Well, hello there, intertidal

A few other presentations at the conference stood out to me. If you're the Twittering type, I suggest you check out the hashtag #dsbs2018, because many of the conference highlights are posted there. My favorite presentations were about bioluminescence in deep sea animals and metamorphosis in snails that live at hydrothermal vents.

Lastly, the conference served as a chance for me to explore central California. I love the west coast intertidal, with its sandstone cliffs and astoundingly high biodiversity. And the Monterey Bay area is kind of a Mecca for marine biology, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, its affiliate research institute MBARI, Hopkins Marine Station, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve all within just a few miles of one another. I got to see a number of these institutions during my visit. Marine biologists often discuss trips to the Aquarium as if it were a pilgrimage, and after seeing it myself for the first time, I must admit, I was deeply impressed. The exhibits cover every habitat from the intertidal to the open ocean, including a 2-story tank with a kelp forest and another massive tank that houses open-ocean tunas and schools of sardines. It is extremely well-done.

I am so grateful to be involved with such a high-quality group of scientists and for the chance to connect with colleagues in California. The conference was very insightful and a really great week!