Student Travel Recipient: Rasika Subasinghe
Our student member and travel award recipient, Rasika Subasinghe, reports back from her US conference.
25th July 2016
I have just completed a very successful trip to the US to attend the annual Plant Biology Conference 2016 held in Austin, Texas from 9th to 13th July. The conference was organised by the American Society of Plant Biologists and I was honoured to present a poster depicting the outcomes of my PhD research project.
I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists (NZSPB) for your generous support extended to me to make my participation of the above conference a reality. Without your financial assistance I would not have had the opportunity to take my findings to the global scientific community gathered at the Austin Convention Centre.
Networking / dining out with plant biologists from Canada, France, Spain and Germany
The conference was of paramount importance in a number of aspects. Firstly, the event provided a great platform for me to carry the current progress of New Zealand’s Plant Biology research to the world and thereby draw the attention of the fellow plant biologist to the high level of research conducted in the country. Secondly, it was a forum to meet and discuss with a wide variety of stake holders of the plant biology sector and share each other’s knowledge. The opportunity paved the way for me to obtain a more in depth understanding of the research activities taking place in the US and other more advanced economies and to draw important insights from their work that could be applied to my project.
I consider the contacts and networks that I developed with the members of the scientific community the most important outcome for me and for New Zealand’s scientific research.