New Brunswick

This is a slide I use in a lot of my presentations, which shows
the basic scheme for benthic invertebrate life-histories
that I study.

Late last week, I eased myself back into work mode with a virtual visit to the University of New Brunswick Saint John. A good friend of mine from postdoc days, Cassidy, is a professor up there now, and she invited me to speak to her department. 

It was an absolute delight. I gave a presentation on some of my recent Arctic research - how larvae disperse at high latitudes, where they end up, how they recruit, and what we can expect as climate change warms the polar regions. It's always weird talking to a computer screen instead of an auditorium, but I got into a groove and spoke for about 45 minutes.

By far, the best part of the day was after my presentation was finished. Multiple labs had signed up for personal meetings with me, so I spent the rest of the day in virtual chats about research. One of the postdocs who studies Arctic charr had a lot in common with me. A professor asked me about technical diving. I was fascinated by one lab's work on lobster larvae and another lab's studies of whale acoustics. It was an awesome day. 

I have to say that the UNB crowd impressed me with their collegiality and respect for one another. Several people expressed that on a small campus, you have to get along, but it seemed to me that the politeness was not survival - they genuinely enjoy working together. I am grateful to Cassidy for inviting me to speak to her department and for the chance to get to know a great group of like-minded scientists!