Aaron Ragsdale Conference Summary

Vienna was the proud host of the annual meeting of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution from July 12th to the 16th, 2015. The venue for the meeting was the Hofburg Palace, a former royal residence in the heart of Vienna.

Aaron Ragsdale
Ph.D. Candidate
Applied Mathematics GIDP

Conference Summary
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Annual Meeting
Vienna, Austria
July 12-16, 2015

I recently attended the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution annual meeting held in Vienna, Austria in July 2015. This conference is focused on molecular evolution, and brings together a large number of researchers working on genomic biology and evolution in a vibrant setting with well-run parallel symposia, high-profile plenary lectures, and many posters on display. I had the opportunity to present my research on modeling triallelic population genetics and its implications for models of protein evolution. I was pleased that my talk was well attended and I received positive feedback from the audience afterward, and I was able to engage in a number of useful conversations and receive suggestions regarding my work. Overall, this was a great experience to be able to talk about my graduate work to a large audience, and to gain experience in communicating my research.

I am very grateful for the support offered by the H.E. Carter Travel Award to travel to the SMBE meeting this year, which furthered both my graduate studies and my professional development.