The Phycological Society of America’s (PSA) joint meeting with the International Society of Protistology (ISOP) and International Society for Evolutionary Protistology (ISEP) brought together algae, phytoplankton and protist researchers from across the globe. During the meeting, research from carbon dioxide draw-down with kelp farms to important evolutionary questions of protists in the tree of life were presented to an international audience of academic, federal, state, and local government scientists.
Sam Setta presented on phytoplankton changes with temperature and acidification from the West Coast Ocean Acidification (WCOA) 2021 Cruise. During the meeting, Sam had the opportunity to connect with many scientists, including researchers from the Washington Department of Natural Resources and Shannon Point Marine Center at Western Washington University.
Following the conference, Sam flew to Savannah, Georgia for Dr. Holly Bik’s workshop “Telling Stories Through Data”. Unfortunately for workshop participants, this happened to coincide with Hurricane Debby’s arrival on the U.S. East Coast. While the workshop was originally planned to take place on Sapelo Island, evacuation orders meant the location changed to downtown Savannah, GA.
During the workshop (and Hurricane Debby), Sam learned new data visualization methods and best practices. In the afternoon sessions, Dr. Virginia Schutte led the group in a science communication component. Sam and workshop participants explored a variety of science communication platforms and best practices and brainstormed a future science communication plan. Graduate students to early career researchers participated in the workshop and learned data visualization and storytelling from each other while forming a community to rely on for tips and advice on “Telling Stories Through Data” in the future.
Through these two great experiences this summer, Sam was able to communicate with scientists on findings from the West Coast Ocean Acidification cruise, meet scientists with similar research, learn data visualization and science communication, and meet a wonderful group of early career researchers.
