ASM or Bust

Last week I wrote about a list of things my undergraduate adviser, Alan, suggested I do to improve my credentials as a graduate school applicant. One of the first things he mentioned was attending (and presenting at) a national conference. I agreed with this immediately. Although I've discussed my research at small, undergraduate conferences and meetings before, I knew a presentation at one of the big organizations' national meetings would give the line on my CV a bit more clout.

That, of course, and the fact that conferences are good places to meet people, network, and share ideas. There's no telling who I might meet at a conference-- potential graduate advisers, research contacts, scientists or representatives of organizations looking to hire? That'd be great.

One of the first things I did when I got back from my meeting with Alan was start hashing out plans to attend a conference. But I ran up against a problem immediately. There are really only three, reputable annual meetings I could attend. In other words, there are three organizations that hold annual conferences at which a presentation about my undergraduate research would be relevant. These organizations are the Ecological Society of America (the ESA, not to be confused with the Endangered Species Act), the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) and the Society for Conservation Biology (the SCB). The problem? Each of these organizations have deadlines by which abstracts for presentations must be submitted. I've missed them all.

ESA, a national organization, is holding their annual meeting this year in August in Pittsburgh, PA, and their abstract submission deadline was in February. SCB, an international organization, is holding their annual meeting this year in July in Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and their abstract submission deadline was in February, too. ASM, a national organization, is holding their annual meeting this year in June in Laramie, WY, and their abstract submission deadline was May 3rd.

Er.... whoops. Shame I didn't think about all of this sooner, so that I could have reserved a slot to present somewhere. Hm...

I asked Alan about this and his advice was to email each organization and ask if they'd accept a late abstract (not latebreaking mind you, just late). I did so and heard back from ASM-- they'd recently had a presenter cancel and had a slot available, and if I submitted my abstract and registered within 24 hours, they'd fit me in. Thanks, ASM. Will do.

So I'll be presenting the results of my undergraduate thesis research and hanging out at the ASM's annual meeting in Laramie, June 11th - 15th.

I'm a little ambivalent about the whole thing, however. On the one hand, it will be terrific experience, and I'll likely get to meet and talk to a lot of really neat people doing really cool research. I'll beef up my CV a little, and if I'm really lucky do a bit of networking that may serve me well in the future. I'll get to strut my stuff, so to speak, and inform some people about a subject in which I invested a great deal for a decent stretch of time.

On the other hand, since I'm not associated with an organization or school, I'll have to pay for the conference (registration fees, travel expenses, lodging, food, etc.) out of pocket, and it won't be cheap. Granted, a plane ticket from here to Laramie is cheaper than one from here to Pittsburgh, and a lot cheaper than from here to Alberta, but still... in some ways it's money I'd rather be saving.

Also, I don't view Laramie as being an outstanding city in which to hold a conference. If they were going to be in Wyoming, why not Jackson City? Another factor lies in the fact that I haven't presented my thesis research (or really done a whole lot of thinking about my thesis research) for more than a year. It shouldn't take long to fall back into the groove and recall all of the bits and pieces and from my former presentations, but it certainly won't be as easy and fluid as it would be had I done this months ago.

Last, but certainly not least, all the cool kids go to ESA. In the realm of ecological research, the Ecological Society of America reigns supreme.

My research is more relevant to ecology than to mammalogy. Additionally, my future research goals are tied strongly to ecology and questions based on ecological principles and theory. I feel like many of the professors/potential advisers with which I have an interest in working will be attending ESA, and those that won't be attending any conferences this summer, if asked, would likely express a preference for ESA over ASM.

Really, I'd LOVE to go to ESA. But the reality is that I can't justify spending money to attend a conference right now unless I'm presenting, and the only place that had a slot available for me to present is ASM. So to ASM I'll go, and I'll just have to hope that I'll end up at ESA next year or the year after.

Hey-- anyone else out there going to ASM?