ESC-ESO 2013 Conference, Guelph (Oct 20 to 23)

I just returned from a four-day ESC-ESO conference at Guelph, and it was a great conference with excellent presentations and posters.  This conference also attracted a large number of CANPOLIN students showcasing their research on pollination, and it was great to see fellow peers whom I had met the past two years, but it was also bittersweet because this was the last official meeting for CANPOLIN members as the initiative comes to an end.

The conference also promoted the use of social media: Twitter: (#ESCJAM2013), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIn22KYNkQI), and blogs (e.g., The Bug Geek, Ibycter, and The Boreal Beetle).  The conference also invited the well known insect photographer, Alex Wild, to teach a photography workshop and to speak to everyone at the banquet dinner about insect photography techniques - keep image simple (i.e., avoid messy background), light (know where your light sources are), tell a story, avoid centering the subject (i.e., follow rule of thirds), and patience.

My trip began with a six-hour Greyhound trip from Peterborough to Guelph (via Toronto) on Sunday morning.  I was unable to make the proper connection at Toronto so I ended up waiting in Toronto for two hours (which I used the time to check out cameras at BestBuy and had lunch at McDonald's).

Thanks to the staff and volunteers who made this conference seemed so organized.


Attendees taking a break from so many wonderful presentations (to avoid brain overload, I'd think).


Poster presentation is always a good place to slow down brain activities (and also to enjoy free stuff from exhibitors).


The poster most relevant to my future research, i.e., something related to phylogenetic analyses involving plants and pollinators.

Thank you to the hotel staff at Delta for hosting the event.  The meals were good, and there were water and tea (and coffee) at most times.

I attended many presentations on various topics, but pollination still interested me the most.  The one was about how pollinator size influences reproductive success in lady's slipper orchids (Cypripedium spp.).  This particular slide shows the route the pollinator takes to exit the flower.

This presentation was by Dr. Elizabeth Elle from SFU who highlighted the main results from various researchers in this working group.

The main researchers across Canada, and their "small army of students" (myself included).

Objectives of this particular working group.

The connections all of us were trying to understand and make.

Research by one of my peers at York.


While my own work was not highlighted, my labmate's work (that I am currently working on) was presented.  I took a short video here.

Presentation by Dr. Ralph Cartar from Calgary who presented the results from his graduate student, the influence of managed bees on wild bees in canola fields.

Their main findings.

I left Guelph on Thursday afternoon and was able to make to connection this time (just barely as I got the last seat at Guelph).  This was taken somewhere in Toronto as we were exiting the metropolis.

Another random shot.

Rain in the distance.

While walking around Guelph University during my spare time, I took many photos (especially at the Arboretum) and I will share those photos in the next post.