This past summer I went to the Mycological Society of America meeting in Gainesville, Florida. Its only a 5 hour drive from Miami so our lab decided to do a road trip. The conference was alot of fun! I don't really focus on fungal biology so it was nice to learn about what other people find interesting about fungi, other than their interactions with plants. I really enjoyed the presidential lecture by Betsy Arnold and the Karling Lecture from Christine Hawkes. They're pretty big deals in the fungal world, in my opinion. Sadly, I got COVID from the meeting even though I felt pretty safe: most people were masked and trying to social distance. The symptoms weren't too bad but it did feel like the worst cold I ever had in my life and I was so exhausted. Luckily I recovered quickly in only 10 days.
Then we went to the Ecological Society of America meeting in Montreal, Quebec. It was my first international flight ever! I got to use some of that French I learned in highschool. Public transportation in Montreal is amazing compared to Miami. The trains are so large and fast and on time! I also made sure to do all the Canadian touristy things on my list including eating poutine, ketchup chips, and going to a Tim Horton's.
This was my second time going to the ESA and I forgot how tiring 5 days of science talks could be. I was surprised to see that all the talks on soils and soil microbes were full! Even with all the seats filled, there were some talks with people waiting out the door. I think my favorite session was "Ecological Networks in Belowground Communities" even though I don't really use networks in my work, at least not yet. I think they're an important avenue to consider for understanding microbial communities. ESA really has a way of firing you up to do science, of course only after you recover from being tired from the conference.
