Coastal Plant Ecology Lab: ESA100

This was a great year for CPEL at ESA! We had 9 students (2 undergrad, 4 master's, and 3 PhD) in attendance along with 1 junior ecologist (our 1 1/2 year old). In addition to our own talks and posters(photos below), we saw a lot of great research from students of Nathan Kraft, Debra Peters, Steve Archer, Mendy Smith, and many, many others.

One workshop that was particularly of interest was "Women in Ecology" organized by Andrea Thorpe. It was very apparent that while there are many great resources for women available, many women are falling through the cracks and in need of support. I have experienced this myself and seen it happen in other women in ecology. There is a resource (which I have had difficulty accessing) in the Earth Science Women's Network. However, we left the workshop with the idea of organizing a network through ESA. In the meantime, I will be teaching a topic seminar on Women in Ecology and will have weekly blog posts highlighting the challenges and amazing research from a diverse group of women.

Some memorable quotes from the workshop:
"We can help other women and provide resources by creating a network of women in ecology"

"This is not a male vs. female thing, it's an inclusive thing"

"We don't have a female version of a beard to make us more respected as young female ecologists"

"You don't need to change who you are to be a scientist"

"Have the confidence to represent yourself and what you bring to the table"

"There is no one way; there is no right way; there is what is best for you" (This one has been turned into a haiku from our twitter feed!)

In the short-term, @cpelvcu has created a women in ecology list. Send us a tweet if you would like to be added. Hopefully, there will be more to come.

I almost forgot: our week started off with a unique synergism of ecology and my little pony. CPEL embraced this and interacted with the Bronies. And now - lots of photos from the conference!