February 13th, 2026

Fall semester synopsis

My field work last summer, including a failed growth chamber experiment at the end, lasted until late September. The first week of October I moved and my dad drove from Reno with more of my things from home. After his visit, I drove back to Reno with him for my first break since winter holiday in January. Once I returned to KBS, I had two months to analyze my summer data and prepare a poster for the British Ecological Society conference in December. I presented at data colloquium, lab meeting, and KBS colloquium for public feedback on my poster and data. At the time, it felt stressful. However, looking to my plans this year, I would prefer fall semester.

BES conference

Before the conference, my mom and I, for her birthday, were able to visit Paris and London for a few days each. Then we went up to Edinburgh for the conference. This was my first science conference. I was shocked by the amount of people there. The "sessions" were not favorite. I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to learn something from back to back 15 minute lectures with no breaks in between. I guess this is how science conferences are though. I'm happy I was able to go, as now I know that science conferences aren't for me, unless I need to present. (Read some more here)

For the rest of winter break, I was able to visit a few friends in Reno and California. However, I had gotten sick from the conference and as soon as I was feeling better I got a cold. There was only about a week where I was feeling decent and that was the time I set aside to get back to work.