Calm Before The Storm?

It's official... I've had less drama traveling to some malaria-infested backwater of Indonesia than I just experienced in a day of travel to get to Raleigh-Durham from San Francisco for the 2008 Science Blogging Conference. Granted, after a few good Thai beers, it's all starting to fade in memory... the 3AM ride to the airport, the 40 minute delay when the plane had to taxi back to the gate to swap incorrect luggage, the 5-minute sprint through a mile of Atlanta airport to make my connection, and now, after getting here, we have the looming threat of a winter weather advisory that may interrupt the conference proceedings tomorrow. I suspect that means less than an inch of snow, but this is North Carolina where the only road hazards locals learn to deal with are suicidal possums.

I haven't had a chance yet to track down my colleagues with whom I'll be presenting tomorrow. Sounded like Kevin, our team leader, had some drama of his own making. Silly boy missed his first flight and raised the specter that he may have to bail on the conference. The latest email update indicated he was able to find a standby seat and was due to arrive in Raleigh-Durham late afternoon. Which is all good news since it saves me having to fly up to State Park to beat the man with his own arm for getting us all out here without a session organizer.

After arrival and settling-in a bit, I splashed some water on my face and then met up for a dinner of Thai food with Randy Kramer, professor of environmental economics in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke. For the past several years, Randy has served as Chair of the Program Committee at CORAL. Randy's research focuses on ecosystem valuation, water resource economics, and the economics of biodiversity and natural resource management in developing countries. He's been tremendously generous with his time and expertise in helping me think through more than just a few tricky conservation challenges in my work. I've been lucky to work with and learn from Randy in a professional capacity, and I'm very fortunate to now think of him as a friend. I wanna be like Randy!

Our session, Real-Time Blogging in the Marine Sciences kicks off bright and early tomorrow, so I'm off for some well earned sleep. Stay tuned for updates throughout the day (assuming there's wireless access).