Wow, I haven't written one of these in a while! It's been a productive year, with a huge rebound in the field, new undergraduates to help me, an in-person conference, and my first first-author publication finally getting accepted!
Getting back to an in-person conference was extremely refreshing. I had a productive week, got to meet some great people/future collaborators. I presented data collected from the first three field seasons of my PhD on a poster (below). I had planned on doing a talk initially, but I am still analyzing some physiological data that I think would be needed to tell a full story in that format.
It was my first time in Austin, TX, and I had a great time. The food was good enough to pack on some extra baggage around my waist for the trip back. Luckily, we rented a van and drove the 9 hours down, so I didn't have to pay extra airfare for the extra lbs. I'll link our exclusive Spotify playlist we curated for the drive. Also, If you're in the downtown area, Jo's Coffee has a fantastic breakfast burrito that Maddie and I experienced. Apply the salsa directly onto the eggs for maximum enjoyment.
I also got the opportunity to catch up with my former lab mates at the University of Tennessee's Sheldon Lab. Exploring a new city, seeing my old friends, and learning at SICB reinvigorated me. We can all forget how many great people are around us, supporting our careers and allowing us to support theirs, but that week reminded me of that. I'm grateful for them.
Another highlight was getting to watch Chris, an undergraduate student from the University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff, give his first poster! Chris collected and analyzed immune data from my nest box system last summer through a REU program funded by NSF, and he did a fantastic job. He shows promise in his writing and presentation skills, and the guy is only going into his sophomore year! He's a motivated worker, even when he has to deal with my incoherent rambling about the state of modern country music and Tennessee Football while checking boxes in the extreme Arkansas summer heat.
I would call the trip an unmitigated success. I'll drop a couple of shameless pictures below as proof that people at least pretend to like being around me. Most of this blog post could read as mushy, but I feel its important to put it out. Call me a sap all you want, I love my job, my birds, and my friends. I want everyone to know it.
Right now, I'm getting revved up for the quickly approaching field season. Some box maintenance and datasheet prep this month will get me in prime position to start monitoring for early nestbuilding in a couple of weeks. After a less than ideal 2021, nesting numbers improved greatly in 2022. We expanded to two new sites as well, so we have high hopes for 2023. Fingers crossed!
My first first-author publication was accepted! I am extremely excited to have my undergraduate work published. I'll link it here so you can take a look. Make sure to follow me on Google Scholar if you want to see some more temperature related goodness! More will be coming soon. :)