Mixers, Exhibits, and New People!

Yesterday was a very exciting day. The Marriott is now fully covered in GSA posters, signs giving directions, and almost everyone I see has the easily identifiable conference attendee name badge. It's a common site to see people looking quizzically at maps of the convention center while sipping on a coffee or typing away at a laptop.  

Here I am sitting on the spiraling staircase ready to head into the undergraduate mixer, my first event of the conference! The first hour of the mixer involved hearing a panel give presentations and answer questions about applying to graduate school and pursuing academic careers. The first speaker, Anthea Letsou, represented the National Science Foundation (NSF) and explained the process of applying for research grants. She went into detail about the NSF's Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) and REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates). Unfortunately, these grants are only for US citizens so I would not be able to apply, but it was still interesting to learn about how students in a different country are able to gain research experience.

The name of the next panelist escapes me, but thankfully, his words do not! This panelist, highly experienced in grad school admissions, outlined the general process of applying to grad schools and the importance of specifically tailoring your personal statement to each program you apply to. What I found interesting was how much he emphasized addressing one's weaknesses head on in the personal statement. For example, in the case that someone had poor grades in undergrad, instead of ignoring this in their personal statement, he strongly recommended addressing it positively as something that they have overcome, and won't stop them from seeking higher education. He also helped our brains begin churning by encouraging us to ask questions such as, "Why do I want to go to grad school in this particular field?" and "Why this particular school?"

The third and final panel speaker was a PhD candidate from Izmir, Turkey named Hatem. I am so glad I had the opportunity to hear her describe her journey, and wow, what a journey! Hatem focused a lot on the importance of finding a lab with a PI (primary investigator) who you communicate well with, as she went through a long and bumpy process of finding a lab that was the right fit with her. Another thing I never thought about in length before was just how important ensuring funding is. Some PhD students are put in a very challenging spot when there isn't enough funding for them to finish their research. They then have to try and find another lab, another PI... According to Hatem, during grad school you really earn a "masters degree in life."

After the panelists presented there was a brief time for questions, followed by snacks and the opportunity to talk in smaller groups with the panelists, grad students, and of course, fellow undergrads! I met students from Kentucky, Illinois, Columbia, and more, some studying yeast, others Drosophila, and one running experiments with C. elegans. The research that these undergrads are doing is amazing - one student I talked with is studying a Drosophila model of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and gave me a quick synopsis of the correlation of ASD with Fragile X Syndrome. I was very impressed! 

This is the registration, pick-up, and go-to desk in the case of any questions. Whoever did the graphics for this conference did an excellent job. Whenever I see the hexagons I immediately think of hexane and benzene rings... Haha oh organic chemistry!

After the undergrad mixer I headed to my first session of talks. I decided to attend the two hour session of talks from the zebrafish community focusing on Regeneration and Stem Cells. It took me a few minutes to decipher what the first speaker meant by "TREEs," and a quick read of their abstract on the TAGC app clarified these to not have trunks and green leaves, but to be "tissue regeneration enhancer elements." I am quickly realizing how many acronyms are used in genetics, and even all throughout biology. Hopefully more of these acronyms will become increasingly familiar by the end of the conference. The next speaker was from Boston Children's Hospital and discussed her work in screening for chromatin factors involved in the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells, more commonly referred to as HSCs (see, another acronym!) She had excellent images showing how chromatin remodeling factors, specifically one called Ing4, are required for HSC specification. One of the other speakers that I found very interesting talked about cryopreservation of zebrafish spermatogonia in whole testis. When placed into female ovaries the spermatogonia differentiated into oocytes! This is fascinating, and my brain is trying to understand how exactly this works.

Following these fascinating talks was the Opening Mixer with Exhibits. This is where I picked up copious flyers, leaflets, pins, and learned about everything from aquatic systems for precisely controlling environments for zebrafish to minicube PCR systems. There was also the most amazing microscope with a built in needle for making transgenic embroys.  

The tightly regulated zebrafish tanks, with the control panel located adjacent to the tanks on the right side. 

The Minicube PCR machine! Now this is something that would look mighty good in our UFV labs... :) Each tube does a separate PCR reaction simultaneously with different temperatures, cycling times, target DNA.. you name it!

"Schedule at-a-glance" posters are located all throughout the conference area, listing the upcoming talks from particular model organism communities. 

Here is the spread of items I picked up from the exhibits and from the welcome package. I'm pretty excited to have a bright red hat reading "Rainbow Transgenic Flies," a stack of genetics themed cards, and a preeetty cool GSA tee shirt. 

At just after 11pm I headed back to my room from the exhibits. I could have easily spent another half hour there, but my copious yawns told me I needed some rest. Thankfully the exhibits are around for most of the conference so there is plenty of time to take another look.

So far, the Allied Genetics Conference has opened my eyes to some amazing research being done around the world, not only by research professors, postdocs, and grad students, but also by fellow undergrads. The talks so far have also confirmed just how complicated science is and how a nice, tidy answer wrapped up with a bow just doesn't happen. Science, and genetics specifically this weekend, is full of unanswered questions and dedicated individuals seeking answers. Although not said with explicit words, the passion in each speaker is so evident from the long days spent in the lab, the commitment needed to run experiment after experiment, the constant asking of questions, and the insatiable curiosity.

- Vivienne