After a stressful Thursday morning watching the snow blow past my window and scanning La Guardia airport’s list of flight cancellations, I was lucky enough to catch a window of rain and hop on one of the only New York – Chicago flights running that day. Never having been to Chicago before, I’m very excited to have the weekend to explore. First impression – wow.
I am here on a mission, and that mission is to attend and cover the annual conference hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The interdisciplinary event brings together scientists, students, journalists, and educators, locks them all in a large cell, and forces them to communicate. And communicate they do. And I’m just kidding about the cell. The conference is massive, with dozens of concurrent sections on topics ranging from health to policy-making to particle physics to environmental issues.
So far, I’ve attended sessions on air and water quality impacts of hydraulic fracturing, emerging water issues, and recent advances in climate change research. I’ve had a chance to look behind the scenes, have lunch with some very influential oceanographers, and look at maps of sea monster distribution. Over the next few days I’ll be sharing my impressions and experiences from the conference with you, along with cool studies, photos, and science resources. Stay tuned for science!
Cover photo courtesy of ifmuth, Flickr Creative Commons.
