A month of conferences and travel
Hello everyone!
February has been a flurry of preparations, travel, and, of course, pollen counting. With the "Science is Wonderful" outreach event in Brussels just around the corner, most of my time has been spent making sure everything is ready to go. Our booth, "Explore the world through pollen," is fully prepped, complete with 3D pollen models, interactive activities, and forensic palynology mysteries. I can’t wait to see how visitors—especially the kids—engage with our hands-on approach to science!
Beyond outreach, traveled to Amsterdam for the Tropical Ecology conference, which was an amazing experience. The talks covered a wide range of topics, from biodiversity monitoring to conservation strategies in the Amazon. It was inspiring to see so many researchers working on similar challenges from different angles. I presented my poster on the documentary, and it sparked a lot of interesting conversations, likely because it offered a fresh perspective compared to the more traditional research topics (and I was lucky enough to have a little table by my poster so managed to show some of my documentary, which certainly grabbed some attention!). I was very happy to find that the conference was very centred around palaeoecology so I had some really insightful discussions with many other tropical palaeoecologists, new connections and old friendly faces! Plus, visiting Amsterdam was a sweet bonus!
I also I took a quick trip to Montpellier for a seminar, which was a fantastic opportunity to present my project and connect with researchers and discuss ongoing projects. The seminar itself sparked some exciting discussions, particularly about the intersection of palaeoecology and climate change, and I’m looking forward to seeing where these conversations may lead.
In the lab, I’ve continued diving into pollen analysis. The learning curve never really ends, and every sample brings something new. I’ve been working through some particularly tricky identifications, but the challenge is part of the fun. It’s been rewarding to see my skills improve and to start noticing differences I wouldn’t have picked up on a year ago.
With March starting off strong, I’m looking forward to an action-packed month. First up—Brussels! More updates to come soon.
Until next time!
-Dael
