“I would like to deeply thank The Wetland Foundation for awarding me with the conference travel grant that allowed me to travel and present my work at the 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting. Not only was this the first major conference I attended during my academic career, it was also one of the largest conferences I have heard of which led to an amazing personal and professional experience. The generous funding allowed me to present my work on the impact of black mangrove on coastal stability in Louisiana which in turn led into an impromptu panel involving myself and the other presenters in my session. The scope of the conference allowed me to network with a wide range of professionals involved in not only wetlands, but aquatic sciences in general. Additionally, by interacting with people in a wide range of sectors including academia, government, NGO, etc. I was afforded the opportunity to develop a better understanding of my future career goals at an early point in my development. My ability to attend this conference was an excellent professional experience and was made possible in large part to the funding from TWF.”