How a casual conversation at a conference became the highlight of my science career
Susanna (@SusannaLHarris) is a Graduate Student in Microbiology at UNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In this inspiring story, she shares how a causal conversation with a senior researcher in her field, at an academic conference, turned out to be the highlight of her academic career.
I tried to shake hands with someone wearing an arm sling and it became the highlight of my science career.
With only a few months left before applying to graduate school, I went to the Phage Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. Technically, it’s called the Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Meeting, but everyone calls it the Phage Meeting. I was very excited about it and was looking forward to the tons of great science-related discussions paired with a pitcher of Spotted Cow beer on the terrace overlooking the lake. Summers in Madison are beautiful, and I’m still jealous of the students who get to visit the Student Union for concerts and locally-made ice cream! Anyway, this meeting would be the perfect opportunity to learn about the research I would be conducting during my graduate career, and maybe even meet some of the people I’d hoped to work with.
All science conferences are different. I’d been to the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) General Meeting (now called Microbe) before, which is a HUGE conference attended by thousands of people from all around the world; you can wander the gigantic poster hall and see all types of microbiology research, but it’s easy to get lost in the crowds. As a very young scientist, I was awestruck and bewildered but didn’t have the confidence to just go up to a more senior researcher and strike up a conversation. Worse, the PIs (Primary Investigators, aka Lab Bosses) usually end up all together in some corner or going to a nearby coffee shop to talk business.
The Phage Meeting was a different matter: with only a few hundred guests, all of whom were excited about similar sub-fields of microbiology, everyone got a chance to mingle with all the attendees — right from brand-new students all the way up to professors emeriti.
Intrigued? What do you think happened at this conference, making it so special and memorable for Susanna? Read the full story to find out!
