Ocean Optics XVIII, held last week in Montreal, was my first Ocean Optics conference.  I have a notebook full of ideas to review and many to try out.  I made some valuable connections face-to-face, which to me is much more satisfying than email.

Thanks go to TOS, CNES and the Planning Committee for a creative scientific program, and for  a format where everyone gets to hear every talk.  I think that it helps create a real sense of community, especially for those who are relatively new to ocean optics (like me).

Suggestion

One suggestion I forgot to put into the suggestion box that I will share publicly:  Perhaps we can make the next Ocean Optics XIX "climate-neutral"?

How this typically works is that attendees have the choice to make a donation (e.g., via a check box on the registration form) to support an effort to offset the estimated CO2 (~500 kg) generated by each conference participant.

For example, the upcoming National Conference on Coastal and Estuarian Habitat Restoration encourages a $10 donation/participant to create a "Conference Climate Fund" that will support community salt marsh projects as well as other carbon sequestration projects though Carbonfund.org or similar organizations.

http://www.estuaries.org/?id=135

For more info on how Carbonfund.org helps organizations offset a conference footprint, see:

http://carbonfund.org/site/pages/offset_organization/

/eric rehm
University of Washington
Applied Physics Laboratory