Une conférence réussie (A successful conference)

Mahaut and I are returning to Ariège after three very stimulating, engaging, and fun days in Strasbourg at the 3rd Colloque d'ÉcoPhysiologie Animale. The organizers did a fantastic job bringing together a great group of researchers from across Europe and North Africa – including France, U.K., Sweden, Germany, Austria, and Algeria – studying everything from terrestrial isopods to elephant seals. There was plentiful discussion of telomere dynamics, oxidative stress, and energetics, all some of my favorite topics!

For my part, it was great to meet some researchers whose work I’ve followed and cited for years, but had never crossed paths with – for example, I’ve followed Antoine Stier’s work on mitochondrial respiration, Frédéric Angelier’s work on stress response, and Yann Voituron’s research integrating physiology, behavior, and life history in lizards. Mahaut was able to chat with a few potential advisors for her PhD pursuits as well. And of course it would be impossible to leave after spending three days thinking and talking about eco-physiology and NOT have a thousand ideas for new and expanded projects – and potential collaborators.

Photo credit: Mahaut Sorlin

 

The timing of the conference also served as a great motivator to conduct the initial analyses of our recent experiment so soon after its completion.

The results are somewhat surprising, so bouncing ideas around with a group such as this is a huge benefit. I’m glad to say that my presentation was well-received and prompted some fruitful and interesting discussions. The timing could not have been better to share some early results and connect with so many folks doing great work.

Next up, Evolution 2018 in Montpellier! Abstract submission is now open!