A So-So Conference

A week ago, I attended The Wildlife Society Conference in Canmore, Alberta. One of the main reasons (other than learning what research is being carried out across the province and going to Banff) why I attended this conference was to give an oral talk on my research. In my mind (and my friends) my talk went well. I didn't forget anything or faint infront of ~150 people. Moreover, Mika gave an extraordinary talk that should have taken home the prize ($100.00) for best oral presentation. All-in-all, I learned about various wildlife species and management/conservation implications.

I would have to say that the conference was ordinary and didn’t stand up to other ones that I've attended. However, the quality of talks was above average. I ended up attending a great deal of them on the last two days of the conference. The first day was a field trip (we stayed long enough to see a wildlife over-pass corridor.) and the seconded day was jam packed with talks that didn’t hold my interest (with an exception of a Grizzly Bear session). Unfortunately during GB talks I was stressing about a talk that I was giving the next day, I couldn’t focus on the speakers and their presentations. When I am asked “How was the conference?” I simply reply, “The talks were great”. I don't dwell on another other aspect of the conference. On the other hand, since Oz has only been to two in her during her academic career, she would probable say that it was the best she has attended, relative to one she attended last month (PUBS).

The best part of the conference occurred during the second day of the four-day long conference. The morning sessions sounded dull so some friends and me set off to Banff. We had a great time hiking around lakes, seeing a merman (half man and half fish) skeleton, visiting a dissimilar, appealing, yet smelly sulfur stream, and visiting many candy/chocolate stores. I really enjoyed spending the day with Mika, Oz, and Krissy. Too bad the rest of the conference couldn’t have been based on various hikes through Banff.