In academia, it’s often said that research that is not shared is research that is not done. Communicating work within the scientific community usually takes three forms: publications in academic journals, short presentations at conferences, and longer seminars hosted by academic departments or research institutes. Seminars of the last type are often also great ways to visit peers and find potential collaborations for future work. Recently, I had my first opportunity to give a seminar outside of the United States, and I thought I would share that experience.
This past spring, I was invited to give a seminar in the Earth Surface Processes Modelling section of the GFZ, a large geoscience research institute in Potsdam, Germany. Getting any kind of recognition for my work during my PhD was flattering, and I accepted the invitation. I was also excited about the possibility that this could lead to future collaborations with researchers at the GFZ, which already had a little bit of a mythology for me because I had known others that had worked there. That aspect played out sooner than I anticipated, because in the time between accepting the offer to talk and coming for the presentation, I also accepted a job offer to be a postdoctoral position in the same section after I’ve finished my degree. While this timing is kind of backward from the usual expectations, it was nice that the trip was an opportunity to build relationships and start thinking about my postdoc project rather than an extended interview.
On October 9th, I left Baltimore for Potsdam with most of my talk done, and only some vague ideas about potential topics for the postdoc. It was the first trip I had taken outside of North America since I was 18, and I was nervous both about the travel and about the expectations of giving a good talk.
On the plane, I reworked some of my slides. The work in my presentation is the core of my dissertation research. My work focuses on the two-way feedback (or coevolution) between topography and runoff that is generated in response to precipitation. Topography and subsurface properties affect where and how much water runs off the land surface, while on long timescales, that same water causes erosion that shapes landscape topography. Numerical models of long-term landscape evolution usually don’t capture key features of runoff generation, including runoff generated from shallow groundwater, despite how important erosion from flowing water is in these models. I’m interested in what this coevolution can reveal about why places behave the way they do hydrologically. For instance, why do some places have saturated areas that vary extensively through the year, while others have saturated areas that are more fixed?
After many buses, trains, and planes, I arrived at my hotel in Potsdam in the evening, a full day after leaving Baltimore. The talk was the next day, and I was very tired, but because of various food intolerances, I still had to schlep to the grocery store that evening to get food. (At the grocery store I noticed several things that told me I was ‘not in Kansas anymore;’ the language spoken was different, but more interestingly, I had at least three grocery stores to choose from within a fifteen-minute walk, and in the one I chose, a group of chatty 7–10-year-olds checked out on their own ahead of me. That’s not something you see every day in the US).
1. The Grosser Refraktor in Potsdam, Germany.
The next morning, I took the tram to the GFZ, which is nestled in an urban forest that hosts a research campus called the Albert Einstein Science Park. Yes, I was told, Einstein himself did work there. The Earth Surface Processes Modelling section is housed in the iconic Grosser Refraktor, the great refractor, that was built in 1899 for the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam. In the afternoon I gave my talk in the Refraktor conference room, where the audience sat on a fun mix of chairs, benches, and couches. I presented work that covers both how topography is affected by runoff generation from shallow groundwater, and how these evolved landscapes store and release water. There are some really neat emergent relationships here that I'm excited to share soon in a paper that I have been working on with my PhD supervisor and several other coauthors.
2. Presentation in progress. Photo by Luca Malatesta.
The rest of the week flew by, filled with around a dozen meetings both in the section and elsewhere around the campus. I learned about other projects covering everything from glaciers to rock weathering to Himalayan hydrology, along with other studies at the intersection of groundwater and landscape evolution. I got the sense that everyone was doing fantastic work, and that the scientific density on the campus was going to make it a productive place to be a postdoctoral researcher. After several meetings with my future supervisor, ideas had begun to take shape for my postdoctoral project as well. Early stages of project development can be really fun and fruitful—any idea of interest can get thrown out and discussed.
3. Scene in a valley near Davos Platz, Switzerland.
At the end of the week, I hardly had time to catch my breath before getting on a train to Switzerland for a short vacation. As it rained outside the train window, I wondered why I was dragging my tired self all the way to another country for just a few days’ stay, but my mood changed when I reached Zurich. It was clear and sunny as I walked along the river with a stream of other visitors, enjoying the low evening light and mild weather. I looked around Zurich for a day before heading to Davos, where the larch trees were in full fall color and some far mountain peaks were covered in early snow. It was gorgeous, and I had no regrets about the hours I spent on the train. After that, I returned to Berlin, and from there back to Baltimore. I still have a long road to finish this PhD, but I'm excited for what is to come.