GSA

This past weekend/week I was in Houston from Sat until Tuesday night because I presented my research at the GSA (Geological Society of America) meeting. It's held once a year at various cities across the nation, and this year it's in Houston of all places. It's really fun because it concentrates all of the nation's geologists in one area so they can present their research during the day and then go out for dinner/drinks/catching up at night. I love it. I saw mom and dad and Jake and Maddy Saturday, and ate dinner with them at Lupe Tortilla's because I really miss good mexican food. From Sunday to Tuesday I stayed with Blair in a hotel near the convention center, which was great because I've really missed seeing her now that I'm half a country away. On Sunday afternoon Jay Banner, my undergrad advisor, and Isabel Montanez, my grad advisor, co-chaired a session on speleothem research. I stayed for all of the talks and really enjoyed it because I heard Jessica, Corinne, Brian, and Eric give talks, and I know all of them! Monday night the Jackson School had an alumni reception at the Home Plate Bar across from Minute Maid park, and I was able to see a lot of my old professors and friends from UT. Dad even came to make an appearance as the new advisory board member. On Tuesday morning I met up with a bunch of people from Apache because Kelly was giving a talk. I finally let them know that I won't be able to work for them this summer, but it was still really good to meet with them all again. On Tuesday afternoon I gave my talk! It went really well (I think) and everyone seemed happy with it. It was a really great experience to present my research, and my mom was able to come and see it!