Liz O’Connell for Frontier Scientists –
“Take a look around at the American Geophysical Union conference, there are a lot of old people there—potentially you can replace them,” was the advice relayed by a student attending the APECS Association of Polar Early Career Scientists meeting sponsored by ARCUS, Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S.
The advice, somewhat blunt, gave rise to additional suggestions for students not only overwhelmed but perhaps shy or tentative about networking at the AGU conference with over 8,000 attendees.
Andrew Thompson, Cal Tech Associate Professor, suggested that if you want to meet a particular scientist read his/her work and find a question within the paper that can begin a conversation.
Janet Warburton, PolarTREC director, pointed to poster sessions as a great venue to meet the scientists and ask them questions. “The one-to one introduction to the science might help you decide if this is your future work.”
The meeting was designed to encourage effective future leaders in polar research. Other mentors at the meeting were John Walsh, UAF professor and Director of the Center for Global Change and the Arctic; Breck Bowden, Thermokarst Scientist in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources; Kriss Rokkan Iversen, SALT; and Valentina Radic, post-doctoral fellow, University of British Columbia. The students attending seemed energized and ready to get back to the conference. Overheard on the way out: “Let’s go to a talk together.”
Frontier Scientists: presenting scientific discovery in the Arctic and beyond
We’re attending American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2011.
FrontierScientists would like to thank AGU and Michael Mac Fadden for making the meeting smart phone friendly!
