Five members of the Westerman lab, senior Braden Shipman, and graduate students Grace Hirzel, Matt Murphy, Sushant Potdar, and Yiting Ter, presented their research at a virtual Marine Ecology mini-Symposium April 9th, 2020. Coordinated by Dr. Jenn Dijkstra of the University of New Hampshire, as a way to facilitate research presentations by students who would have presented at the Benthic Ecology Meeting, this symposium featured students from multiple institutions up and down the Eastern Seaboard, as well as California, and was attended by Benthic Ecologists from across the country, as well as Canada. While Braden was the only Westerman lab member to present on Benthic Ecology, the community was kind enough to allow butterfly ecology talks as well, as “butterflies are really cool”.
Congratulations to Braden, Grace, Matt, Sushant, and Yiting on their talks, and a huge shout out to Dr. Dijkstra for organizing, and the many students and faculty who participated! It was wonderful to see so much exciting research, and to connect with the supportive scientific community, albeit remotely.