Another year, another fantastic meeting with CCFFR in Ottawa!
The meeting kicked off early for some with a workshop on the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area, discussing progress in the first year as an independent entity, as well as upcoming field courses and proposed experiments.
"The Smoker", which is the annual mixer that officially kicks off the meeting, was fantastic. Lots of great conversation as friends and colleagues come together and meet again.
This year had a strong set of presentations, and started off in fine form with plenary lectures by Martin Krkhosek (Stevenson Lecturer, U of T), Daniel Schindler (Rigler Awardee, University of Washington), our very own Alison Derry (UQAM), Anne Phelps (DFO) and a delightfully insightful and provocative talk by Jake Rice (DFO senior scientist). The regular sessions then went into full swing, with SCL-led sessions on Multiple Stressors, Dynamics of Aquatic Nutrients and Algal Blooms, and the Experimental Lakes Area. In all, 213 contributed talks and 72 posters were presented over three days.
Last, the organizing committee held a "student success workshop" with panel discussions on a range of topics, from getting published, science communication and outreach, scoring that job or next grad position, and working at the interface of science and policy. Judging by the reviews on twitter, this was one of the most talked about sessions at the conference, and was very well received.
Finally, a big THANK YOU to the Local Organizing Committee this year (John Lark, Steve Cooke), and the army of volunteers who made it all happen, as well as the generous sponsors and donors (listed in the program), bot those who exhibited and those who supported the conference in so many other ways.
Looking forward to next year in St. John's! Until then...