December 2

We kicked off the second day of the conference with more oral presentations, categorized by themes such as polar bears or geology. When the talks were organized thematically, it became even more clear how interconnected all of our research was; while it didn’t come as a surprise, it was great seeing the connections being made. 

After lunch, the topic went to a new integrated research and monitoring site in the park. We were all invited to participate in small-group conversations about the purpose, location, and pros and cons of such a site. Overall, the consensus was, we all wanted to improve communication with each other first. Once that was established, it would be much easier to ask and share data amongst ourselves, and know what everyone was doing in the park and when. It was awesome to be part of such a conversation with grad students, professors, and professional researchers, talking about something we all cared about very dearly. It made for an excellent ending to the event.

After the symposium wrapped up, we had a few hours to look around Winnipeg. Since we usually had work to do, we never got much of a chance to really see the city. After walking in the mall for a while and playing piano at Chapters, we picked up some food and headed back to the house. After we ate, we started making cookies (as well as some plans for tomorrow). We all turned in at about 12:30, ready for a day of (a bit less) work come the morning.

Luke Pound, Park School of Baltimore '18