Network, network, network. I feel like even more than the (not BPS) conference I went to in undergraduate this conference was all networking which is great, in my opinion at least. It has been amazing to talk to so many people doing related research, especially as a computational person. It was kind of shocking to see so many people interested in the computational aspect of my research not just the practical results. I met a graduate student working experimentally on the same protein who was amazed at the kinds of figures I was able to make of the structure. This networking has also been exhausting just as much as exhilarating. My poster was very popular Sunday even before the session as early as 10 am. Thank you again to my lab mate who brought me water during the session. I would have been hoarse without it.

Of course, these meetings are about research. I was able to volunteer to count people at some of the sessions. This meant I went to several sessions where I had no experience in the topic, and I am glad I did. My experimental background is chemistry not biology or biophysics. I feel like this pseudo-requirement to attend sessions I would not have otherwise gave me a chance to learn more experimental methods. Hopefully, this will translate to reading papers. Even pure computation labs need to read/understand experimental papers. Further, some of these sessions had computational projects attached to them. I have several ideas to address my current challenge in the lab from these speakers even though their labs were not computation-focused. On Monday, I was able to tour some computational posters, and I was able to mix networking and research with an invitation to contact some labs on their developments that compliment my work. Also, my lab mate (who brought the water) gave an excellent talk on search and recognition of transcription factors.

I mentioned a little bit in my post highlighting women graduate students, but I was amazed to see the diversity in the Biophysics Society member body. On top of that people seemed genuinely supportive. I was worried because I have had some bad presentation experiences in the past, but everyone was very nice. Even, the professor sitting at my poster at 10 am hours before the session. It is great to see supportive science. Along those lines, I was able to attend the work-life balance workshop. I appreciate the panel’s advice on both maintaining their own balance and fostering it in their students. I hope to use the latter with my undergraduates, so I can pass on the legacy of preventing burnout by balancing lab and life.

Lastly, thank you to BPS for an opportunity to share my voice at the conference through my poster and on this blog. It’s time for a nice nap.