Scientific conferences are always a whirlwind.
The Southeastern Regional meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS) was this past week in Charlotte, NC. As a 4.5 hour drive away from Richmond and a traditional good conference for undergraduate presentations, a large group from University attended– if I’m remembering correctly 10 faculty members with upwards of 35 students presented talks and posters throughout the week. As I reflect on the whirlwind, I break it into three sections: 1) Spending time with the students (and my colleagues) outside of campus–watching them present their findings, exploring Charlotte, talking to them about sessions they enjoyed, etc. 2) Catching up with other folks from throughout my career– old colleagues, other Duke graduates, Duke faculty, etc. 3) Presenting Pollock lab research and getting new ideas for moving forward. The former two were great for my soul but the latter really helped my scientific intellect. I presented in, and presided over, the last biological chemistry session on Saturday afternoon. As expected, there were not a lot of people in the session; however, it allowed me to have some quality conversations with other new-ish faculty and some graduate students from different institutions. Presenting the Pollock lab research went over well and it has made me excited to get a paper submitted soon!
Okay, so those are my reflections on the conference. I’ll let the students tell you theirs. Be watching for another post soon!
~jap
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