Liane, I respect your view, but I am rather unconvinced. Most of the advantages you state can be gained from reading abstracts in the literature, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Science, Nature and Proceedings. One can talk with authors by phone or e-mail. I do it all the time. I am currently collaborating with an author who I have never even met on a manuscript.
The one thing that cannot be substituted for is the joy of face to face human contact, and the possibility of an exciting new research direction emerging over late night beers. But (a) how often does that happen? and (b) does it continue to justify carbon-intensive travel? Quoting Liane Cochran-Stafira <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > At 04:53 PM 8/6/2007, Andrew Park wrote: >> Dear Ecologgers, >> >> As for meetings, I suspect that they are usually more about networking >> (careerism again) and less about achieving progress in a particular >> field. That's why I do not go to them these days unless I am >> presenting something specific. > > Andy, > I'm rather surprised by this statement. Yes, grad students and recent > grads may be looking for potential employers, but that is hardly the > main reason people attend ESA or any other scientific meetings. The > main goal is to find out what is going on in our own little corner of > the research world as well as to scout out what's new in other areas of > ecology, microbiology, or whatever. As someone else has mentioned, > it's impossible to read all the ecological research papers, but if I > spot an interesting abstract, I can easily get more information in the > form of a talk, seminar presentation, or poster session. And, I can > discuss the research with the author in person. Not sure what > meetings you've been attending to come away with such a narrow view of > their value. > > Cheers, > Liane > > > > *************************** > D. Liane Cochran-Stafira, Ph.D. > Associate Professor > Department of Biological Sciences > Saint Xavier University > 3700 West 103rd Street > Chicago, Illinois 60655 > > phone: 773-298-3514 > fax: 773-298-3536 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://faculty.sxu.edu/~cochran/
