Twenty-two graduate students represented CEOAS at the American Geophysical Union Conference in December 2023. From first timers to seasoned attendees, here are some of their experiences.
Attending AGU in 2023 was my first foray into the world of academic conferences. The event served as an unparalleled platform for both intellectual growth and networking. AGU not only broadened my understanding of cutting-edge scientific endeavors but also provided a glimpse into the diverse and fascinating research being conducted around the world. The conference left an indelible impression on me, emphasizing the global importance and collaborative spirit within the scientific community. – Bareera Mirza, PhD Student in Geography
“Meeting current and future collaborators from around the world. Running into old friends in the massive poster hall and enjoying San Francisco. Celebrating research and collaborative science.” – Kelsey Lane, PhD Student in OEB
AGU 2023 was important to me since I did my first in-person oral presentation at a large international conference like AGU. The valuable feedback I received after the presentation was truly beneficial for my current research. – Suhail Alhejji, PhD Student in Geology
I had a great experience back at AGU in San Francisco! As chaotic as it is, AGU is one of the best places to feel at home in a sea of strangers. When you scurry from room to room or poster to poster, you’ll always have something interesting to overhear or see along the way. AGU has also started to really emphasize scientific engagement with the population and local communities, and you could tell at AGU 2023 that accessibility, outreach, broader impacts of science communication, and K-12 engagement were priorities of the organization, in addition to the important science that advances our understanding of the earth. – Layla Ghazi, PhD Student in Geology
I had researchers I admire ask me for my opinion on new concepts
Deepa Dwyer
Attending AGU as a late-state PhD student feels like a totally different ball game. I got so much more out of the networking and I felt like I could really engage with all the presentations I attended. All in all, it was a great time! – Olivia Williams, PhD Student in Geology
AGU 2023 was a great opportunity to share the progress I’ve made on my dissertation research. It was also wonderful to catch up with old friends, and to help undergraduate students I have been mentoring prepare for their first conference! – Sami Cargill, PhD Student in Geology
Attending my very first AGU was phenomenal. It’s a tsunami of scientists and research: overwhelming and electrifying in the magnitude of people you interact with and ideas you absorb and generate. It’s also one giant hype-fest for nerds (some are old friends, some are new) and reminded me why I love what I do. – Jonas Donnenfield, PhD Student in Marine Geology & Geophysics
AGU is one of the best places to feel at home in a sea of strangers
Layla Ghazi, PhD Student, pictured above.
This was by far the best AGU experience I had so far. I co-chaired 2 sessions, and gave 2 talks; one pertaining to my PhD work and another on IODP Expedition 395 that I sailed on during summer of 2023. What made it really amazing for me is feeling that I not only had a lot to learn (as before), but I also had a lot to contribute to conversations. I was able to build and foster collaborations for future projects. Most amazingly, I had researchers I admire ask me for my opinion on new concepts. The combination of this made me truly feel part of the community. – Deepa Dwyer, PhD Student in Marine Geology & Geophysics
At AGU 2023, I picked up some cool stuff! I learned about using Earth Engine Vertex AI and how to manage data better with tools like SHAP and COCALC. Meeting people from Google Earth Engine and learning about job opportunities at Berkley Lab was awesome. Additionally, the discussions on innovative projects like the mangrove study and advancements in image processing using Generative Adversarial Networks for super-resolution were particularly captivating. Understanding hypergraphs in mathematics as a complex extension of traditional graphs added another layer to my learning experience. – Ashraful Islam, MS Student in Geography
I felt somewhat starstruck at AGU, especially wandering around the exhibit hall and meeting representatives from amazing companies and organizations- as big as NASA and as small as new environmental NGO start ups! As far as my research, the conversations I had between sessions and at my poster gave me a new context for the larger questions and how my research fits into that. It was almost the opposite of imposter syndrome. On top of all of that, this was my first AGU and first time networking with so many people. I realized that networking was similar to making new friends and rekindling old friendships, but it is exhausting and scheduling in some time to refresh yourself socially is extremely worthwhile! – Meghan Sharp, PhD Student in Geophysics
AGU2023 – both an exhausting whirlwind and invigorating experience. From meeting long-time inspirations, to connecting with global collaborators, what initially felt like an impossibly large conference center began to feel like a network of the greatest scientists I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Presenting new methods and findings from a new study area than my past research breached my comfort zone allowing me to grow not just as a scientist, but as a human. – Sarah Beethe, PhD Student in Geology
Featured Presentation Titles (alphabetical by first name)
- Ashraful Islam: “How speckle filtering approaches and kernel sizes affect land cover classification: Sentinel-1 pre-processing parameter selection insights”
- Bareera Mirza: “Evaluating the relative value of MODIS snow cover and Sentinel-1 Observations for Snow Water Equivalent Estimation within a Data Assimilation System”
- Deepa Dwyer: “Glacial fans as archives of the paleo-geomagnetic field: A case study from IODP Exp 341 in the Gulf of Alaska for the 14-50 kyr interval. Presentation # 2: New Records of Geomagnetic Instabilities During the Brunhes Chron From IODP Expeditions 384, 395C and 395 in North Atlantic Ocean”
- Jonas Donnenfield: “Disentangling mechanisms of persistent benthic hypoxia in the NE Pacific from the late Pleistocene to late Holocene”
- Kelsey Lane: “Combining molecular, morphometric, and trace element geochemical analysis for a single foraminifera shell: a promising workflow for species with cryptic diversity”
- Layla Ghazi: “Understanding the phase associations and weathering behavior of rhenium to assess the use of Re as a tracer of georespiration”
- Meghan Sharp: “Drivers and Mechanisms of Rift Propagation: Initial Observations on Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf, West Antarctica”
- Olivia Williams: “Development of a new noble gas extraction method in ice cores”
- Sami Cargill: “A Multi-Proxy Approach to Develop a Chronological Framework on the Cascadia Margin Using Radiocarbon and Paleomagnetic Secular Variation Constrained by Chemical, Magnetic, and Physical Properties”
- Sarah Beethe: “After the Minoan: New Radiocarbon Ages of Recently Uncovered Eruptions in the Santorini Caldera”
- Suhail Alhejji: “The Origin of Younger Volcanism in Western Saudi Arabia”