Caffeine and Cortisol: A Personal Account of the Inaugural BCTWS Annual Conference

“Plan a conference for Spring? Like, this Spring? They must be nuts”

I’m paraphrasing a bit, as all great sensationalists do, but this was my reaction when first discussing a potential BCTWS Annual Conference. Helping plan the first BCTWS annual conference in Kelowna was proposed to us in November of 2018. Scott Yaeger, the President-Elect of the BC Chapter of The Wildlife Society, had asked the UBCO TWS executive to choose and host the student-oriented events at the conference. A number of us had never attended a professional conference, myself included, so expectations were vague at best. In my ignorant head, a conference was a well-starched, clinical event for “silverback” professionals to waffle on about policy and politics. Emboldened and enlightened by Scott’s vision of a success conference, “a bonfire and beer”, we agreed to do what we could.

The next few months mostly involved your trusty UBCO TWS executive banging their heads together trying to figure out how to best serve and/or entertain our members without knowing when or at what venue the conference would be held. Days upon days were spent typing emails, sifting through google documents, and trying to keep everyone on the same page, while coordinating our usual on-campus events and responsibilities, and working on our various courses and research (the stuff that comes with being students). Eventually, thanks to a very dedicated team and plenty of caffeine, we got a rough outline. I shudder to think what the committee for the rest of the conference went through.

Now, credit to Scott, he had it envisioned half right. When a March 1st date was settled, we laid the bonfire idea to rest, but redoubled our efforts for beer. With student budgets in mind, Scott set out to get costs down enough to make #BCTWS2019 affordable, and as a starving student myself, I thank him for that. With a framework in place, we juggled head-count estimates. Just how many people were going to show up for this thing? 30, maybe 40?

In hindsight, estimates of turn-out for the conference were, well let’s say humble. This was the first conference the BCTWS held and we hadn’t expected such an energetic response from wildlifers across BC. When registration closed at just under 100 people, with an overwhelming proportion of students, we had to acknowledge what a marvelous community we’re a part of.

When the conference began, it took hardly a moment for me to realize what the strength of our group was. I’ve called it informality, but I think it’s something more akin to warmth. In a room of 100 different people, all with different interests, different values, and different stories, we could all find common ground. We shared a love for super natural British Columbia and the biota therein. It didn’t matter if you were experienced, or well-connected, or in my case a scatter-brained doofus. What mattered in the end was interest and passion.

There are, as I came to realize, worse things than being a scatter-brained doofus. I have the immense privilege of working with a UBCO TWS executive team that can move mountains when I get agendas out in a timely fashion. I also had the pleasure of working with Scott and the rest of the BCTWS executive, who brought it all to fruition. Moreover, we’re part of a community of biologists, ecologists, and wildlife fanatics that are still passionate about assembling and sharing ideas, and we ought not to take that for granted. I would encourage anyone, regardless of experience or extroversion, to take part in such an event.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to #BCTWS2019, especially our own UBCO squad. I hope everyone had a blast, I know I did.

Check out more photos in out gallery here: https://ubcowild.wixsite.com/20182019/set/2ee03afe-89f3-4084-bfab-693edfb6e9a8