#ESA100

August 25, 2015 by Gail McCormick Leave a comment

Earlier this month, the Chris’s and I traveled to Baltimore, MD for the centennial meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Because it was their 100th meeting, a great diversity of ecologists were in attendance. It was big!

I received a student travel award to help support my attendance at the meeting. Thanks ESA Physiology Section!

Thank you!

I am happy to report that all of our talks went well. It was also so great to see Langkilde Lab Alum Renee Rosier, who gave a talk on fence lizard nesting behavior.

Renee and I at the “photo booth.”

Penn State was very well represented at the meeting, and we frequently ran into our colleagues from the Shea, Miller, Post, and many other labs. We hope that their talks and posters lead to fruitful conversations!

We also attended many interesting talks, and Howey moderated a session. One of my favorite talks was given by Paul Abram from the University of Montreal who was investigating why some stink bug eggs have a darker pigment. The answer, it turns out, is very complicated, and it was fascinating to see the results of a number of small studies trying to pinpoint the nature of this pigment (which isn’t melanin!).

The Baltimore Convention Center houses many model ships. This large model was once used in the movie Ben Hur.

In the Exhibit Hall, the newly formed Science Communication Section encouraged passersby to #SketchYourScience. Thawley and I collaborated on this fantastic work of art:

#SketchYourScience

Perhaps one of the most notable incidents occurred when the fire alarm went off during a session on Thursday. The Convention Center comfortably held a few thousand ecologists, but less so the surrounding streets! Luckily, this occurred near the end of a session, and the last few talks were squished into the remaining time.

While we were there, we couldn’t resist the chance to explore Baltimore. Chris and Chris partook of a dinner of invasive species at Alewife. Thawley had the Snakehead fishcakes, and I’m told Howey’s invasive boar sliders were excellent!. After dinner, the Chris’s won trivia in a bar full of ecologists. Way to represent!

Thawley diving into his Snakehead fishcakes at Alewife.

Howey enjoying his invasive boar sliders at Alewife.

Renee and I had some fabulous gelato from the Little Italy neighborhood. We also took a science break one morning to check out the National Aquarium. We particularly loved the Australia exhibit, and we couldn’t resist sitting in on one of the dolphin demonstrations!