A Meeting of the Minds….

So….apparently I am a lazy blogger. My apologies. I will probably never be a consistent blogger, so get used to it. Of course I would love to post vast quantities of stimulating information on a daily basis. But, alas, my life is pretty hectic and I will post when I can or when I find something I need to get out of my head.

This week had been pretty busy for me. I relocated to school, way way way up north. I moved into my cottage over the weekend and started classes on Tuesday. I only attended the first of two lecture courses then left for a conference with my advisor on Thursday. Sure, I have been to conferences before, but this was a very small meeting of a few very interested folks.

I tend to agree with the 5/95 rule: Within any given organization, there is roughly 5% of the folks doing 95% of the work. Consider this regional organization the 5% of the national group. There were about 30 people from various backgrounds, all focused on one goal: the conservation of herps in the midwest. There were students, from high school to post-doc, professors, federal and state agency employees, hobbyists, and the frog huggers were out in numbers this year. It is always great to have some ‘common folks’ to chime in at the meetings to bring us egghead researchers back to the ground. We tend to get caught up in prospective research and can run far on our leash with management recommendations. I’d say the hobbyists and the herp huggers drastically improved the effectiveness of the meeting. A few of the researchers, and this was evident, presented canned talks that they have given before. Although they were relevant and interesting, not too stimulating. Similarly, state and federal employees gave drab presentations on what their state or region is involved in.

Then this highschooler from a small town in Missouri got up in front of the group. He gave an amazing presentation, lots of pictures and relevant figures, and even props. He presented information on something that few of us self-proclaimed herpers had never heard about: turtle races. For a turtle lover and animal rights activist, appalling on many fronts. Click here for a more in depth article on turtle racing.

I gathered it is akin to the rattlesnake round-up in many ways, save for the instant death aspect. A number of different species are used, even some endangered species. The turtles are collected from the local area then dumped at the nearest piece of land at the end of the races. But hey, all turtles are the same right? And let’s not even get into the inhumane conditions. I’d like to shove these coordinators into a box truck with no food or water, put them in the sun in the middle of July, then shove them into an arena and watch them struggle to find shade. Just disgusting.

This young man had it all together. A number of people stood up after his talk and expressed their amazement at his presentation. I’d say he already has his PhD in the bag. I think most of us were dumbfounded that we had never heard of such a travesty. Just goes to show you, passionate people can do a lot more for herp conservation than those of us who have (or are trying to) made a ‘career’ out of it.

It was so nice to be in a room with so many like-minded individuals. Persons genuinely interested in working together for the greater good. I have been to a few scientific meetings over the years and most of them are just teaming with competitive scientists, unwilling to share their currency: novel research ideas. In the research community I just left, meetings were not a place to find potential collaborators or to gain an outside opinion on some research. They were places to steal ideas to put into a proposal to obtain grant money faster than the persons with the original idea. And who suffers in this scenario? The organism(s) of concern of course. Maybe I am still a little too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in this discipline, but I still believe in the effectiveness of few individuals.

The conference was very inspiring, and I think I meet a couple people I will ask to collaborate on my project….once I figure out all the details that is. I also got to know my advisor very well on our long delay at the airport. We are going to get along wonderfully I think. Sort of odd really….I have this notion that many of the experiences and knowledge I have gained through the years is unique to me. Somehow, her and I have read many of the same books, liked a lot of the same music, been to many of the same places, and even had the same political views on a number of issues. I am still trying to figure out something we absolutely disagree on. It was a bit eerie actually, in a good sort of way.

Now, back to pretty boring and not-so-challenging classes, gathering articles from the library, and getting to know my colleagues.

I’ll post again soon…..maybe.