Experimental Biology Meeting Day 1: Rediscovering the Joy of Research

Greetings from the end of Day One (okay, technically the start of day 2) of the Experimental Biology Meeting. It’s great to be back in Boston! In true Boston fashion for this year, it was snowing as I made my way into the city this morning. As if the city hasn’t had enough snow!

Undergraduate Poster Competition

I started this year with the judging of the ASBMB Undergraduate Poster Competition. According to Kristin Fox (Union College, Schenectady, NY), one of the co-organizers of the competition (along with Kathleen Cornely (Providence College, Providence, RI) and Philip Ortiz (State University of NY, Albany, NY)) this was the largest number of entries ever for the competition with 225 students presenting their research. This required a cadre of approximately 100 judges to properly assess the posters and find some way to figure out a prize winner in each of the 4 major categories. As one of the judges, I can honestly say that this was a nearly impossible task: the quality of the research presented and the poise and presentation skills of the students were incredible! It was one of those times where you wish you could give out multiple awards because it seemed impossible to choose between such amazing presentations.

One of my favorite parts of the Undergraduate Poster Competition is the enthusiasm the students have for their research. Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in the morass of the administrative side of research- the paper writing, the grant writing, etc. When you talk to an undergraduate it is a great reminder of why we got into research to begin with- the joy of discovery and the excitement of asking questions and getting answers that lead to more questions. If you are a faculty member and have never been to the Undergraduate Poster Competition, I highly encourage you to try out being a judge next year. It will help you rediscover the joy of why we do research. It’s also a great reminder of the importance of training undergraduates to prepare them for pursuing a career in research.