Hola.
For those of you who don't stalk me on facebook daily, I have been in Cancun, Mexico the past week for the International Primatological Society Conference. It has been incredible! I wish I could show you pictures, but the internet isn't that fast at uploading them :(
In a nut shell - This conference was basically one for me to attend to:
a. Practice presenting my results (poster)
b. Networking for potential PhD or Jobs
c. Lay on a beach in Cancun, Mexico :)
I have met some of the most famous primatologists in the world. At first my fellow friend/classmate and I arrived not knowing any one. We eventually ran into some Oxford Brookes alumni and then some friends through friends. I had a list of primatologists that I wanted to meet by the end of the week and with help from friends I was able to be introduced and my poster also helped me meet a large amount of Madagascar folks. We also conducted a Madagascar Emergency Action Plan Workshop. There were about 20 of us and we used the workshop as a way to figure out how to help the 103+ endemic lemurs species that are unfortunately declining rapidly. I recently found out that ring-tailed lemurs were now moved from being classified as Near Threatened to Endangered on the IUCN red list because of their rapid drop in density throughout Madagascar. This is very sad. Lemur catta are the flagship species. I think a large amount of people think there are tons of ring-tailed lemurs around, but unfortunately it is only because in the US we see them all around us. [e.g.In zoos, in homes as pets, on tv shows (Kristia Alley's owns a group)].
Overall, my favorite people to meet were Lisa Gould (ring-tailed lemur expert, Steve Ross (Lincoln Park Zoo-Chimps) and Tara Stoinski (Zoo Atlanta/Dian Fossey site - Gorillas). Dr. Gould even mentioned using my data for her paper that is in review to be published - very exciting! Steve, Tara, and I were able to talk about the Sedgwick County Zoo and the animals that I worked with there. It was a great time and I'm excited to see where this takes me. If you ever get a chance to attend a conference in your field of work and you are possibly looking for new directions (e.g. job) I strongly suggest you attend one even though it is a bit nerve-wracking.
Back to Cancun- I got to do some sightseeing, but actually chose today to skip the huge site - one of the 7 wonders of the world - to have some pool time instead. I know, I know, I'm usually a better traveler than this, but it could be because our wallets were stolen last night while we were at the beach :( Just a few more days and I'll be back in the library to finish my thesis and then in a month from today I'll be back in the good ole state of Kansas. <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">
For those of you who don't stalk me on facebook daily, I have been in Cancun, Mexico the past week for the International Primatological Society Conference. It has been incredible! I wish I could show you pictures, but the internet isn't that fast at uploading them :(
In a nut shell - This conference was basically one for me to attend to:
a. Practice presenting my results (poster)
b. Networking for potential PhD or Jobs
c. Lay on a beach in Cancun, Mexico :)
I have met some of the most famous primatologists in the world. At first my fellow friend/classmate and I arrived not knowing any one. We eventually ran into some Oxford Brookes alumni and then some friends through friends. I had a list of primatologists that I wanted to meet by the end of the week and with help from friends I was able to be introduced and my poster also helped me meet a large amount of Madagascar folks. We also conducted a Madagascar Emergency Action Plan Workshop. There were about 20 of us and we used the workshop as a way to figure out how to help the 103+ endemic lemurs species that are unfortunately declining rapidly. I recently found out that ring-tailed lemurs were now moved from being classified as Near Threatened to Endangered on the IUCN red list because of their rapid drop in density throughout Madagascar. This is very sad. Lemur catta are the flagship species. I think a large amount of people think there are tons of ring-tailed lemurs around, but unfortunately it is only because in the US we see them all around us. [e.g.In zoos, in homes as pets, on tv shows (Kristia Alley's owns a group)].
Overall, my favorite people to meet were Lisa Gould (ring-tailed lemur expert, Steve Ross (Lincoln Park Zoo-Chimps) and Tara Stoinski (Zoo Atlanta/Dian Fossey site - Gorillas). Dr. Gould even mentioned using my data for her paper that is in review to be published - very exciting! Steve, Tara, and I were able to talk about the Sedgwick County Zoo and the animals that I worked with there. It was a great time and I'm excited to see where this takes me. If you ever get a chance to attend a conference in your field of work and you are possibly looking for new directions (e.g. job) I strongly suggest you attend one even though it is a bit nerve-wracking.
Back to Cancun- I got to do some sightseeing, but actually chose today to skip the huge site - one of the 7 wonders of the world - to have some pool time instead. I know, I know, I'm usually a better traveler than this, but it could be because our wallets were stolen last night while we were at the beach :( Just a few more days and I'll be back in the library to finish my thesis and then in a month from today I'll be back in the good ole state of Kansas. <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">
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