AGU 2013

Another great year in San Francisco! This year my overall conference experience seemed markedly different, namely because I gave my first oral presentation. Luckily my nervousness subsided enough to tell people the story of how bugs like to live in different places (this is how I explained it  to my 4-year-old niece at thanksgiving). 
It was great to see old AGU friends and folks from Montana that I hadn't seen since summer.  A few new people that I met were Joel Biederman (just completed his PhD at University of Arizona), Scott Peckham (Post-doc at University of Wyoming), and Andrés Varhola (recently completed PhD at University of British Columbia). They have all looked at the mountain pine beetle outbreak in their respective regions with a range of questions and approaches.

Considering the tunnel vision that ensues during the largest gathering of earth-science fanatics, it was nice to gain some perspective from the city we over-ran for a week.  A walk down Jack Kerouac Alley lead to some much needed insight through a few seemingly disparate events: a new book, a conversation in Vesuvio Cafe, and  a sunset on the Aquatic Park Pier.

"...In this a journey is like a marriage. The certain way 
to be wrong is to think you control it" 
John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley