Getting ready for Botany 2015!

I'm heading off to Edmonton this weekend for Botany 2015. This conference is co-hosted by a handful of professional societies, a few for which I've maintained membership for several years (Botanical Society of America and American Society of Plant Taxonomists). I'm excited to be returning to this conference after attending Evolution for several years. My dance card is very full for this conference, but I'm looking forward to each part:

1. Ecological niche modeling workshop: A few of my undergraduate researchers are pursuing some projects involving species distributions and niche modeling. Pam Soltis (who was on sabbatical at NESCent when I was there) is hosting a workshop on this very topic, and I'm elated to have some time to sit down and formally learn methods using QGIS, an open-source modeling tool.
2. Oral presentation: I'll be presenting preliminary results from my characterization of transposable elements in Agavoideae (agave/tequila, yucca, etc). I'm really excited for this collaboration with two other early career scientists, Michael McKain and Alexandros Bousios, to finally come to fruition. You can read my presentation abstract here, and I'll be posted the slides to SlideShare after the presentation. 
3. PLANTS mentor: The Botanical Society of America sponsors undergraduates from under-represented groups to attend their annual meeting, and I'll be acting as a mentor for one of these students during the conference. He'll be giving a talk on palm evolution that sounds great! I'm looking forward to meeting him this weekend.
4. Student career luncheon: I've been invited to speak at a luncheon for student conference attendees about careers in botany. This sounds like a great way to share my experiences in my path to research and teaching. My short talk will be followed by "speed dating," where students will be able to interact with professionals.
5. Professional society service: I have some additional obligations to serve a professional society during the conference, which makes me feel like a Very Adult Scientist but also will keep me pretty busy!

A catalysis meeting on long term experimental evolution.

Travel makes it easy to let blog posts slip away without being fully formed, written, and posted. Now that the semester is winding down, I'm going to try and follow through with writing the backlog of posts that have been piling up from my adventures over the last few weeks. Today's report is about the first part of my trip back to NESCent and North Carolina the week before Thanksgiving.

The catalysis meeting I attended on long term experimental evolution (you can read a little more about the meeting and participants here) was not only fantastic but also the last NESCent will host (more on this in a later post). Although the topic is outside of my main research interests, I answered the solicitation to participate in this meeting because of some research I've been doing with Joe Graves, Michael Rose and colleagues on experimentally evolved Drosophila populations. Moreover, there seem to be some really interesting opportunities to explore robustness of analytical methods using experimental evolution data, which is of particular interest to me.

Here are the things I found compelling about this meeting:

1. Meeting organizers set the tone. Rob Lanfear, the main organizer, put together a fantastic webpage and started a Mendeley group so we could share literature beforehand.
2. The participants were diverse. Forty four percent of attendees were female. There were graduate students, postdocs, early career scientists, and senior researchers present, and folks came from all over the world. Model systems included microbes, invertebrates, fish and trees. 
3. We capitalized on the group's diversity. As an early career scientist, I was pleased to develop relationships with a number of other folks starting faculty jobs at similar institutions. As a group, I was gratified to hear well-respected, senior scientists describing junior scientists' research as "brilliant." There were multiple types of interactions incorporated into the meetings such that folks who were hesitant to speak in full-group discussions could still contribute ideas. In short, this meeting exhibited many aspects of scientific discourse that are overlooked, but which I value deeply.
4. Attendees were invested in the meeting itself. Part of the meeting was structured (or perhaps more accurately, unstructured) as an "unconference," with participants determining topics for talks and group discussions on the fly. Despite this free-form format, folks in this group were very interested in talking about broader research ideas, rather than pushing their own agendas.

I left the meeting with a much wider and deeper understanding of experimental evolution as an active field of research, as well as a better grasp on different ways of thinking about the process of science and its limitations. I was also grateful to participate in one last meeting of this type at NESCent...stay tuned for my next post to hear more about that!

Con drop and lessons learned from Evolution/iEvoBio 2014

I'm in the midst of processing the aftermath of seven very full days of scientific conference. After almost twelve hours of sleep, I'm feeling a bit of a science hangover.  It occurs to me that this post-conference experience is not unprecedented or unfamiliar. Con drop is pretty well documented by other attendees of a variety of conferences and conventions (look here and here for a few examples), and is generally related to the let-down accompanying the return to real life following submersion in a large group of like-minded people. I don't recall seeing much discussion about post-science con drop, but it makes sense. Especially this year: I was on my home turf, seeing lots of folks I already knew and meeting lots of new people, all of us exuberant on the fumes of scientific progress. In the days following Evolution, I found myself relieved at the relaxation of my scheduled obligations but simultaneously bereft. As I slowly return to "real life," I decided to note a few of the big take-home lessons from Evolution 2014 and iEvoBio. A few other folks have written similar posts (I particularly like Rob's lessons and Jeremy Yoder's tweet synopsis).

First, my time limit for conference science-ing is six hours. I do a passable job of stifling my introverted nature for a time, but it means I need to pace myself. If I do a full morning of talks and lunch meeting, I'll have to take a break mid-afternoon and spend some time along. I'm really glad I have a tangible, quantifiable amount of time that seems to be consistently manageable for me…makes planning easier next time!

Second, I participated in two informal lunch-time gatherings: one tweet-up and one LGBTQ meeting. We tried two different models for these. For the first, we met at the registration desk and wandered elsewhere to find lunch. For the second, we had a lunchtime venue planned. Neither seemed satisfactory, as finding a place for 15+ people to eat is difficult, regardless of the amount of planning involved. I'm thinking about better ways to achieve future meetings, such as contacting conference organizers to have a room assigned. I don't know if I want to manage a formal discussion like the one I attended for AWIS at Evolution, but I like the idea of providing a venue to facilitate interactions between groups of likeminded people.

Of course, there are plenty of other things I'd like to break down in more detail, but fomenting ideas about these main topics seems sufficient navel-gazing for now.

Decreasing conference awkwardness.

If we're very honest with ourselves, we'll likely agree that academics, particularly scientists, are quite an awkward bunch. Put a few thousand of us together in an unfamiliar environment, and we spend lots of time searching for people we know (or need to know) amidst a sea of quasi-familiar faces, trying to promote our science, while simultaneously attempting to keep track of our laptops, phones, conference programs, bags, etc.

I've been thinking about ways to alleviate the unpleasantness while maximizing the fun. It's kind of ironic for me to give advice like this, given my own tendency towards awkward, but if it works for me…?

1. Don't be afraid to take a look at someone's name tag/affiliation, and even to let them know you're doing so. At a conference with hundreds/thousands of people, it's normal to need a moment to recognize everyone! There are even some folks with face blindness or who otherwise struggle to place faces in the absence of names. There will be a few folks who will act like jerks because you don't know them, but you don't really want to be their friend anyway, eh?
2. Addendum to #1: Don't let your name tag hang on your stomach. Tie a knot in the string holding it so it's closer to your face. This is especially important for short people (so tall folks don't have to bend over) and women (because boobs).
3. Second addendum to #1: Add your twitter username to your name tag. Some conferences (like ScienceOnline) do this for you. You might be surprised how many folks recognize you for your twitter handle (for me, @k8hert) but not necessarily your name (Kate Hertweck).
4. Extension of #3: Make it easier for folks to talk to you about your poster or talk. My first (title) and last (acknowledgement) slides of my talks include my twitter handle, Google+, blog address, and Slideshare address. I decided recently to include my twitter handle in a footer at the bottom of every slide (with my name, affiliation, and short title), in case people want to tweet mid-talk. Post your talk or poster online (like at Slideshare) and tell the audience…way easier than expecting someone to take notes instead of listening, or printing off small copies of a poster.
5. I depend on my resealable travel coffee mug, because I'm really good at accidentally spilling things but like having water/coffee with me (someone already knocked over a cup of water in front of me yesterday in the morning sessions). Evolution this year told us ahead of time we're all getting water bottles, which helps you plan when packing!
6. I also adore my external rechargeable cell phone battery. I like tweeting at meetings and can also take notes on my phone, and this gadget sure beats trying to find an available outlet. I've been seeing them at big-box stores for $10.
7. Of course, here's my obligatory note that I'd be quite lost without twitter. There's no better way to find people, events or information. I know some folks who use it as their conference notes.

For a few more of my favorite conference tips, see my post from last year. Anybody else have ideas?

EDIT:
Some folks from Twitter had great ideas:

That reminded me of another of my tricks: I keep business cards face-out behind my name tag. I always forget to give them out, and it helps to have a few handy.

Planning for Evolution 2014

Now that I've spent some serious time going through the Evolution 2014 program and trying to plan my daily schedule, I find I'm completely exhausted and ready for a mental break. I'm not even sure why I bothered putting together a list of fun bars in downtown Raleigh, since I can't imagine any of us being awake long enough to partake of any area establishments.

Top items on my agenda for this meeting include:

1. Phylogenomics Symposium and Software School (Thursday and Friday), because learning new analytical methods is FUN!
2. Chairing a session on Life History Evolution (Saturday morning, 8:15-10, Rm 303), during which my talk will take place (Jumping genes and life history: De novo transposable element insertions respond to selection for accelerated and delayed development times, 9:30 am). I'll have my slides up on Slideshare that morning.
3. I'm mentoring two students as a part of the Undergraduate Diversity program (co-sponsored by NESCent).
4. A few short meetings of various levels of formality, including one discussing implicit bias, another for LGBTQ folks, and some from the NSF.
5. NESCent's Evolution Film Festival!
6. Attending the usual set of poster sessions, keynote addresses, lightning talks, receptions, etc.
7. iEvoBio, to round out my informatics geekery.

I realized today that I've committed myself to seven straight days of evolution thinking and learning. That's A LOT of brain juice. I'm going to be focusing a lot on remembering my list of ways to strategize and manage these huge, marathon-style conferences. I've tried to communicate to my partner the amount of time and energy attending these conferences requires. The conversation went something like this: 

Me: I'll be busy doing conference stuff from Thursday to Wednesday.
Him: OK! Want me to make you breakfast and plan dinners?
Me: Um, I have events scheduled from eight to ten most days. I can grab food for myself, but thank you.
Him: Ten…at night? 

When he said it like that, I started to wonder if it was a little crazy, too. Ah, professional meetings….

Want someplace to go at Evolution 2014 after regularly scheduled events? Check out my map of downtown Raleigh!

After attending a few large professional conferences, you start to realize that some of the best ideas happen after the scheduled events of the meeting, when folks head off to restaurants and bars to socialize into the wee hours of the morning. I also know how challenging it can be to find someplace suitable when you're just a visitor in a city. The Evolution 2014 website does a great job of highlighting  local restaurants for during the day, but I thought it would be nice to have a reference for late-night socializing (which may or may not include drinking some of the wonderful local beer North Carolina has to offer).

Luckily, I've lived in the RDU area long enough to be able to recommend a few places. I compiled these locations in a handy google map (color-coded red), including the location of the conference center (black), conference housing (yellow), and NESCent/area universities (for reference, in green). I put a screenshot below, but click on the link and you can select each marker for the website (hours, events, etc) as well as a way to estimate distance from wherever you are. I included a variety of establishments: bars with good food, dive bars, LGBTQ-friendly places, and even a basement whiskey bar. If you know the area and want someplace added, drop me a note! Finally, and I hope this is obvious: this resource is in no way endorsed by the conference or NESCent…it's just my attempt to help make your trip a little more fun and relaxing.

Downtown Raleigh after hours

Monocots at Monocots!

I couldn't very well travel to the 5th International Conference on Comparative Biology of Monocotyledons and not post pictures of monocots, could I? I figured most of the other conference attendees would be covering the New York Botanical Gardens, so I took the opportunity to document monocots in the gardens at The Cloisters, a portion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.






The Cloisters' gardens feature a variety of plants relevant to the medieval theme of the annex, including a wide range of plants used for food and medicine. Not a lot was blooming at the time of my visit, but I managed to snag a few shots of particular plants of interest. Shown here: Paris (above), Hemerocallis (right), and Allium (bottom).

I appreciated the museum's transparency in which plants were poisonous (something often overlooked by horticulturists), as well as notes in some portions of the garden about which plants were new additions and how the particular cultivars grew best.

Monocots at Evolution 2013!

Given my tendency to stalk plants wherever I go, including conferences and college campuses, it should be no surprise that I took some time photographing the most interesting monocots (to me) here at Evolution 2013 in Snowbird, Utah. First up (right) are some lovely irises, which are likely ornamental but more petite than those I'm used to seeing in the southeast United States.

Next (left) is a (rather blurry) false Solomon's seal, featuring the characteristic spray of white flowers at the tip.

I'm not one to normally get excited about grasses and relatives, but sedges are really adorable and this small one (right) was in full bloom.

My personal favorite (left) is this lovely onion in full bloom. My old labmate, Erica Wheeler, would know the species, but I just like the magenta color.

Then finally, I have an enigma (right). These vegetative stalks stood over two feet tall, and not a single flower bud was visible. Obviously I'm not very good at western United States/Rocky Mountain flora.

Sadly, no Commelinaceae, but still plenty of monocots to keep me entertained.

Making the most of your conference experience.

I sat next to an undergrad on the shuttle from the airport to the meeting site for Evolution 2013 this afternoon. My first Evolution meeting was in 2003 in lovely Chico, California, and I've attended this meeting nearly every year since (I've been to Botany and Ecology on occasion, too). I'm acutely aware now how much my conference experience has changed over the years. It's overwhelming at times to sort through the myriad talks offered concurrently, and the undergrad with whom I spoke was appreciative to hear a few ways to think about strategizing his conference experience.

My post yesterday mentioned three basic goals for any conference as instructed by my PhD advisor. In case you're interested in more, here you go: conference philosophy and practice.

1. I spent approximately half of my first Evolution meeting running between buildings to try and catch talks in different sessions. That was a practice which quickly fell away. Now I pick one session in each time block, arrive a bit early, and sit through the whole thing (this is also in part because I knit and sometimes use my laptop to take notes, as I've mentioned before). 
2. How do you choose which sessions? Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. If you have a few friends with similar interests, I like division of labor: go to different sessions and compare notes later.
3. Choosing sessions part 2: Go to talks given by people you know (but see #4 below). Going to someone's talk, especially if they're a new friend, can be an effective way to show interest in their research. Sometimes grad students and undergrads appreciate having friendly faces in the audience, so it is a nice show of support.
4. Choosing sessions part 3: Albert Meier, one of my undergraduate mentors, told me you shouldn't go to a talk given by someone with whom you work (or have worked in the past). Basically, you should probably already know about their research, or feel comfortable asking them about it. Use your time to seek out folks unknown to you, or people you would like to meet. (Note: I prefer this strategy to #3)
5. Pace yourself. I've dealt with social anxiety at various points of time over the last decade, and sometimes I can't handle too much socializing with new people. I make sure I can retreat to a corner of the venue, take a walk outside, visit my room, or otherwise recharge.
6. Use technology and informal events to your advantage. There are often announcements or informal gatherings organized on the fly. Also check the job/announcement bulletin boards for opportunities to score field trip/banquet tickets, etc.

There's lots more I could write, including many issues related to large-scale conventions (for an example, see this entry on con crud). As with anything, your personal preferences may vary.

I think I'm supposed to be doing something with a conference somewhere RIGHT NOW, though...

A prelude to Evolution 2013

I'm heading to Snowbird, Utah tomorrow for Evolution 2013. I've been attending these meetings for over a decade now, and always look forward to the breadth of science discussed. Here are the activities with which I'm involved this year:

1. My talk is on Saturday, 4:15 pm in Cotton D/Snowbird Center: "Genome-wide transposable element insertion frequencies change with selection for accelerated development." It's the first time I'm not talking about plants at an Evolution meeting! I'll be talking about a pretty sweet side project (collaboration with other NESCent and UC Irvine folks) about population genomics of TEs from an experimental evolution study in Drosophila.
2. My poster is on Sunday, number P240003: "Transposable element proliferation and genome size evolution in Asparagales." This is my main NESCent project and the subject of my recent paper from Genome.
3. I'm co-hosting NESCent's Evolution Film Festival on Sunday night in the Ballroom. I've watched the entries and am impressed by the variety of topics and approaches.
4. I'm participating as a mentor for the Undergraduate Diversity Program, and am looking forward to meeting with budding young scientists.
5. I'll be hanging out at the NESCent booth at various times during the conference.
6. Looking forward to attending iEvoBio on Tuesday and Wednesday!

Definitely a busy schedule, but that's the way I like it! In terms of continuing activities at the conference:

1. I'll likely be knitting during talks (the hows and whys are worthy of another post altogether, but I assure you I'm still paying attention).
2. I'll be typing furiously on my laptop and/or iPhone by tweeting (as @k8hert, using #evol2013 for the main conference and likely another for iEvoBio) and taking notes using Evernote.
3. I'll be following my PhD advisor Chris Pires' advice for conferences: "Meet someone older than you, someone younger than you, and watch a talk that changes how you think about things."

See you at the conference!

Monocots represent at Seattle Convention Center!

Hey, what's that over my shoulder? At least FIVE different orders of monocots represented in the Seattle Convention Center's plant displays! From the left: a bromeliad from Poales, snake plant (Sansevieria) from Asparagales, Calla lilies (Arales), some little decorative palm (Arecales) and wandering Jew (Commelinales)! As an added bonus, you get to see my "crazy from so much science after four days of conference" face. 

I had a great time representing NESCent here at SACNAS. The session on ecology, evolution, and human health in which I participated by presenting was well received, and there was a great discussion about public health policy and the biology of disease after the showing of Contagion at our movie night last night. Many thanks to Jory Weintraub for inviting me along and doing a splendid job organizing!