Conference season!
After 2.5 years of cancelled conferences, we are finally able to meet in person again. As a PhD student, conferences are super valuable to be able to meet and discuss ideas with more established researchers in your field, to present some of your own work and to meet fellow PhDs and share your struggles.
This august, I travelled to Annapolis, Maryland to attend the International Seagrass Biology Workshop. 5 days of seagrass science with 200+ people! The seagrass community is incredibly open, supportive and optimistic which made this week into a huge success. There were talks about restoration success stories from Denmark, Indonesia to Australia, and once again it was emphasized how important it is to create & spread awareness to the public on the value of seagrass ecosystems, as it is still the least protected marine habitat. I presented an overview of 3 of my PhD projects and won the 2nd prize for best student talk! Additionally, I attended a 2-day workshop where we started working on a review to compile all knowledge on novel species in seagrass ecosystems. I arrived back home full of inspiration and motivation to continue in this line of research.
Then this September it was time for the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting. During this meeting, all ecologists working in institutes in the Netherlands gather to connect and share their knowledge. We had great plenary talks from among others Grant Hopcraft on wildebeest in the Serengeti, Judy Shamoun-Baranes on bird migration and Laura Govers on coastal ecosystem restoration. I presented in the Coastal ecology sessions among my fellow-PhDs who are all doing great work in coastal ecosystems in the Netherlands and abroad. Once again a great conference (at a beautiful green venue) and hope to see everyone at the next edition.
