ASFB 50th: “Not too small, and not too large.”
ASFB members share their snaps from Melbourne 2018, discuss their favourite fish, and explain why our annual conferences pass the Goldilocks test.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground, a magnificent backdrop for the 2018 ASFB conference dinner in Melbourne, Victoria. Submitted by Andrew Katsis.
This year, the Australian Society for Fish Biology celebrates 50 years of supporting fish and fisheries research in the Australasian region. We invite ASFB members, past and present, to help fill the gaps in our history by sharing their memories.
There are three ways you can contribute:
Tell us your favourite ASFB memory
Send us your favourite photo from an ASFB event, or a photo of yourself in action undertaking some fishy work (send your photos, with a descriptive caption, to asfb50th@gmail.com)
Answer 10 quick questions about yourself
Here are some of the submissions we have received so far.
Favourite ASFB memory
Why attend the ASFB annual conference?
What I really want to learn while at the ASFB conference is what my colleagues are doing now, or, better yet, planning to do. These are at least as interesting, if not more so, than the short, polished oral presentations. It is only here at ASFB where you learn where the field is going, rather than where it has been.
Meeting and chatting with the 'big names' in your field is a major reason to attend the ASFB conference. Of course, catching up with old friends and colleagues, and meeting the bright, young upcoming researchers is a big drawcard, too. In short, making connections.
I have an aversion to the mammoth international conferences with many thousands of people in attendance. I find it frustrating that so many of the presentations I want to hear are on at the same time as others I want to hear. Also, there is never an opportunity to attend talks that are not absolutely within my own field – maybe my interests are too broad, but I think it makes me a better scientist to engage with research results and approaches from other, related fields. One piece of advice I always give to young people (only when asked, of course!) is to get as wide a background as you can in areas that are related to or potentially related to your own field. I think my postgraduate training as an oceanographer (in the American sense: there are biological oceanographers, chemical oceanographers, physical oceanographers, etc.) has been extremely valuable and has enabled me to make contributions in a variety of areas.
Now, what does the previous paragraph have to do with attending the ASFB conference? One of the things I most appreciate about the ASFB conference is its size – not too small, and not too large.
Jeff Leis
ASFB in pictures
10 questions
Geoff Collins
Are you a robot fish? Not in this life…
First ASFB conference: Darwin, 2014
Favourite fish:
Favourite fish to eat? Nannygai (the type you get in the Bight, not the tropical one…)
Favourite fish to look at? Purple-spots
Favourite fish to find while diving? I don’t do enough diving to give an answer to this one… Kuhlia marginata and Amniataba percoides are probably my favourite fish to find snorkelling in the wet tropics
Least favourite fish: Don’t have one … probably stonefish
Main fish biology interests: Ecophys, environmental tolerance, fish passage/connectivity issues
Memorable ASFB conference experience: Presenting one of my thesis chapters at ASFB Hobart in 2016
Memorable field experience:
a. Catching a snake in a cast-net and then figuring out how to release it safely (for the snake and for us)
b. Watching crocs sizing me up at my fish monitoring sites
Which fish would you most like to be? Broadbill
Which fish would you least like to be? Any fish that finds its ecological niche in a polluted / developed / built-up area
Do you have any fishy aspirations? To go fishing for things like Taimen, Golden Mahseer, Roosterfish
Favourite reads: Any of Terry Pratchett, Roald Dahl, Richard Flanagan, Henry Lawson…