Finishing 2018 with AGU

The wait for AGU has been the shinning finish line for my 2018. I could barely stand still waiting to join Cade, Katie, and Deanna on the train to D.C. in December. Although the jitters for the conference were underway. We had a relaxing travel in the sleeper cars and ran into a few other AGU attendees on the train to ease our way into the mood of the conference.

Once we got to the conference center, we were handed a book and downloaded the conference app to navigate our way through this vast ocean of panels, poster presentations, and exhibits. We had hundreds of events to choose from with our limited time and lack of a self-multiplying superpower.

As a senior, I focused on early career and student focused workshops for resumés, introductions to different sectors for jobs, and navigating other steps for the application process. These were reaffirming for some of the foundations that I understood and enlightening in other aspects such as certain layouts, formats, and pathways to apply for jobs.

Some of the panels that stuck out to me as empowering, motivating, and broadened my perspectives were “Alternative Careers: Research in Action in Washington, D.C.”, “Fostering International Science in a Time of Nationalism”, and the Centennial Panel. In these, I found that the sharing of lived experiences, reflections, and research intersecting to add something invaluable in my trip.

Finally, conference and my year would not be complete without presenting our summer research. During my session, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of other scientists interested in and doing similar areas of research. These encounters gave me a better understanding of all the possibilities out there for work and other research.

I have an immense amount of gratitude for everyone on our research team and those who made it possible.