Avery Russell Conference Summary

Avery Russell Conference Summary

Avery Russell
Ph.D. Candidate
Entomology & Insect Science GIDP

Conference Summary
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting 2015
West Palm Beach, FL
January 3-7, 2015

Of the conferences I have attended so far, this Society for Integrative Biology (SICB) meeting has been my favorite. From the very start, everything seemed to go well. On the plane ride over I had the opportunity to talk with a University of Arizona professor of Entomology who I don’t often get a chance to talk with. He offered much in the way of scientific and career advice – especially with respect to publishing and networking – which I found rather valuable at the conference. The conference itself was vibrant, packed with interesting people and talks which have definitely broadened my perspective. I attended as many seminars as I could, which, although mentally exhausting, was incredibly fun. I have taken detailed notes and have attended seminars not just for the great speakers and new directions to the field, but also to scope out methodologies that I might be able to use for my own research and to network with like-minded individuals. While I have only attended a handful of conferences, SICB seems to have an excellent selection of great talks from well-known speakers – I was able to find talks on cognition, development, sensory systems, foraging behavior; all of which provided me a great deal of information and many many useful notes.

Of particular use was that, having just completed my written examination as a PhD candidate, I was able to discuss evolutionary biology and animal behavior at a much higher caliber than I expected, which was useful when talking with my peers and future colleagues.

During the poster session I was able to meet many fantastic young researchers (many were undergraduates) as well as some big names in cognitive science. This was helpful both in the exchange of ideas and in seeing where the field is heading. While very few researchers were exploring my specific area, the larger questions that I was exposed to will be formative as I continue to write manuscripts.

On my talk: although on the last day, my talk was very well received. I had a packed room, and although there was not much time for questions, a number of colleagues peppered me with questions both over email and in person. Through my talk I was introduced to several researchers, some as far afield as Australia, which work on similar systems as mine. The visibility of my talk has also helped me to put out my name, and I hope that I will continue to build off that momentum with future conferences.

On networking: the generous lunch and dinner breaks between seminars and events allowed me to meet with old and new colleagues. I was able to talk with my undergraduate advisor, who subsequently introduced me to several of his colleagues. While I am a neuroscience minor, I am in an EEB & animal behavior lab, and so I do not often get a chance to interact with neuroethological research. Thus I found this chance meeting to be extremely beneficial, as my former advisor gave me advice on which talks I might enjoy and which leaders in the field were present at the conference. In addition, I met with several of my peers from US universities who I had read about or knew from pollination biologists. This was very beneficial: one, Callin Switzer, expressed great interest in my research and it seems likely our paths will intersect many times over. We shared data and methods and it is likely he will come to the University of Arizona to collaborate at some point during my dissertation.