“Thanks to the Conference Travel Grant from The Wetland Foundation, I was able to attend the Society of Wetland Scientists 2025 Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. During this meeting, I shared some results from the first chapter of my M.S. thesis in a presentation titled “Factors influencing the richness and abundance of non-native plant species in Laurentian Great Lakes coastal wetlands.” My presentation sparked interesting and productive follow-up discussions which have guided my analyses as I continue my thesis work.
Additionally, attending talks and poster sessions allowed me to learn more about wetland topics that I was less familiar with. For example, having worked only in freshwater wetlands, I learned a lot about salt marsh ecology through the presentations I attended during the meeting.
This conference also allowed me to expand my network and receive helpful career advice from professionals in multiple areas of wetland science, both from my study region (the Great Lakes) and around the country. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend this conference, and I thank the Wetland Foundation for their generous support.”
