This summer I decided to continue my M. monoensis research with Dr. Brokaw (Assistant Professor of Biology at ACU), hoping to further develop my research experiences in and outside of the lab. As far as lab experiences are concerned, I have learned so much this summer alone, and I am so grateful for the opportunities afforded to me thus far. But I will expand on those experiences more in another blog post. This blog post, however, will focus on my research experiences outside of the lab: specifically, a two-week research expedition with Christian Hofsommer (a fellow research student) and Dr. Brokaw. The first half of our trip centered on the Evolution Conference in Snowbird, Utah and the latter half focused on fieldwork we conducted in Mono County, California—two widely different, yet vital experiences. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this journey would shape the very way I perceive myself, others, and ultimately science itself. But let me back up a bit and set the scene.
Part One: The Evolution Conference
Three weeks ago, on the morning of June 20th, 2013 (at 7 a.m. to be precise), I arrived at the parking lot of the Foster Science Building to begin my expedition. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect—I’d certainly never been to a scientific conference before (let alone presented at one). Not to mention my camping experiences, or lack thereof, enhanced my apprehension (but more on that later). My anxieties aside, I was looking forward to exploring the field of evolution and actually performing fieldwork (as my experiences thus far had been limited to strictly the lab setting). But back to the expedition: a little after 7 a.m. Christian and Dr. Brokaw arrived and our journey began.
The first day we drove approximately 10 hours to Colorado Springs, staying with my family for the night. The next morning we got off to another early start and headed through the mountains of Colorado to Snowbird. As we traveled, it was amazing to observe an unfamiliar part of the natural world—especially compared to Abilene! On the western edge of Colorado, even, our fieldwork began a little early; we were able to collect some samples of M. thompsonii, a species in the same genus as M. monoensis. After an eventful drive, we arrived at the Snowbird Conference Center in time for the Opening Reception of the Evolution Conference. In a way, it was surreal seeing hundreds of students and professors congregating together for the sake of evolution. Following the reception, we headed to the Steven Jay Gould Award Lecture, which this year was awarded to Judith G. Scotchmoor (behind the website “Understanding Evolution”). Personally, I really enjoyed her presentation, especially her discussion of education and evolution. It also helped me to further realize that science is more than just memorizing facts or taking tests: it’s a process of discovery and exploration (among many other things). Off to a good start, we discussed that night’s lecture and headed back to our hotel.
The next day we got off to another early start (there were many of these) to attend a series of presentations on macroevolution. These were a little less accessible to Christian and me given our knowledge (or lack thereof), but they were still generally interesting nonetheless. We even got to listen to a presentation by one of Dr. Brokaw’s colleagues from Washington State University. After these, we treaded into more familiar territory with behavior and social evolution presentations; we heard talks ranging from sexual selection on eye color to bold-shy exploratory behavior. Following lunch, we headed to a symposium on the “Tree of Life,” specifically a talk pertaining to microbes by Laura Katz from Smith College. One of the major sticking points was that researchers now suspect that the eukaryotes are just one of the lineages within the Archaea. This could potentially shift us from a three-domain system to a two-domain system! So it was definitely an exciting moment for all of us at the conference. We continued the day listening to more talks from the symposium and returned to microbial biology with a talk from the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) President Richard Lenski.
Come Sunday we decided to stick with one symposium for the entire day, which was a very different—yet rewarding—experience. This particular symposium dealt with the study of evolution with other, unconventional fields—such as economics, agriculture, and robotics. One of my personal favorite was a talk on “The History and Evolution of Infectious Disease” by Betty Smocovitis from the University of Florida. I could sense her passion for her field(s); it was truly fascinating learning how infectious diseases shaped other elements of human culture and development. Her talk ignited an excitement and passion within me even! As the day continued, we listened to more talks in the symposium (in between breaks and lunch). We even attended a fairly popular talk by Joan Roughgarden, a population geneticist (who apparently wrote one of Dr. Brokaw’s textbooks), on “Evolution and Human Sexuality.” Needless to say, it was a really interesting presentation. At the end of the symposium there was a discussion panel featuring all of the day’s speakers, which drifted into a discussion of evolution and religion. As a Christian, this was particularly pertinent to me. And after it was all over, I came to further realize that Christians aren’t a monolithic body—there are Christians that (like myself) affirm macroevolution and others that don’t. And that’s just one of thousands of differences. I think it’s important to be reminded of that sometimes. We rounded off the day by attending a talk by the President of the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), which I enjoyed. We also ran into some more of Dr. Brokaw’s friends from grad school—they were awesome to meet and very encouraging! Sunday was definitely one of my favorite days of the conference.
Monday: the second to last day of the conference and also presentation day. Dr. Brokaw had a talk at 10:30 on “The Evolution of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Aeromonas,” while Christian and I had a poster session from 7-9 p.m. So it goes without saying that we all had a very exciting day! Before attending Dr. Brokaw’s presentation, Christian and I listened a few interesting talks about education and evolution. It was definitely beneficial to be exposed to an educator’s take on the matter, especially coming from a student’s perspective. After our “warm up,” Christian and I sat in on Dr. Brokaw’s presentation—which I truly enjoyed. Granted, a lot of the information went over my head (and not just in this presentation) but it was really valuable to listen to a presentation from someone I already knew; it made the process seem more real somehow. Following Dr. Brokaw’s presentation, Christian and I viewed a few other talks (including another by a colleague from Washington State) before heading out for our “recess.” During this time we set up our campsite for the night and explored the area a bit more. Before we knew it, it was time for Christian and I to present our poster. It was scary initially, but once we got into the “swing of things” I genuinely began to enjoy the experience. The people who came to our poster were generally very encouraging and curious about ACU; quite a few even thought we were grad students! All in all, it was a very good experience for me. I realize that as I present more presenting itself will become easier, routine even.
The final day of the conference came and went in a blur. After our first night of camping, we decided to head into the conference a bit later. Much like Sunday, we spent most of the day at one symposium hosted by the SSE President: “Everything You Wanted to Know About Evolution But Never Thought to Ask.” Again, this symposium featured an array of different topics and speakers, from evolutionary medicine to ancient proteins. While not my favorite set of talks, I did generally enjoy the symposium. We ended the day with a German dinner at the “Super Social,” where we socialized and what not. All in all, it was nice end to a busy five days.
Before I end this post, I’d like to offer a few reflections on the Evolution Conference. First, it was a very humbling experience. I came to realize that there are a lot of things I don’t know and never will. Not to mention there are a lot of people out there who know more than I do—and there’s nothing I can do to change that. But more importantly, I realized that’s okay. I am not expected to know it all or to be the best. I can succeed just being myself, utilizing what I have been given. Second, I realized that I do not want to study evolution—at least at the graduate level. While I enjoyed the conference a lot, I recognized that evolution is not where my primary interest lies. But that’s not to say I’m not interested in graduate school or research. In fact, the evolution conference opened my eyes to the opportunities that these venues can provide professionally, personally, and even spiritually. As I head further into my academic career, I look forward to exploring these options in greater detail. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to attend this conference with Christian and Dr. Brokaw. In my next blog post I will expand on the second week of our adventure: my experiences with fieldwork, camping, and cars.