Throughout the academic year, students of the Iowa Sciences Academy are provided with opportunities to travel to out-of-state scientific conferences. At these conferences, students can make connections, present their research, and learn more about scientific communication. During the Fall semester, three students traveled to various conferences and are excited to share their experiences.

Bhoomika Shettigar attended the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference in San Diego alongside her lab mate, Zoya. Bhoomika is a research assistant in the Development, Experience, and Neurocognition (DEN) Lab under Dr. Ece Demir-Lira, and her poster was titled "fNIRS Evidence for Transitional Frontal-Parietal Connectivity in Early Symbolic Number Acquisition." SfN is a large conference, with an attendance of around 20,000 people; Bhoomika recounts that "it was overwhelming at first, but I really enjoyed the different events they offered, such as lectures, symposiums, poster presentations, company exhibits, and a graduate school fair." 
Conferences such as SfN are a great space to meet connections within the scientific community; Bhoomika attests that "SfN taught me that I am much more extroverted than I give myself credit for. I struck up conversations and connected with people from all over the world. I dislike the word 'networking' because it can sound soulless but pushing myself out of my comfort zone to meet others, even for a brief moment, introduced me to so many facets of neuroscience that I wouldn't have otherwise known."

Bhoomika adjusted seamlessly to the company and team involved with her lab, NIRx. She says, "the team was a part of the SfN exhibits, and they graciously took us out for dinner. I was nervous at first, but I quickly realized that 1) the NIRx team was easygoing and fun to talk to, and 2) I felt confident in my knowledge about neuroscience and research." An academic experience that stuck out to Bhoomika was when "one graduate student provided me with valuable feedback on how to present my research in a more engaging manner, highlighting not only the unique aspects of my methods but also the fNIRS technology I was using."

In addition to academic and connective aspects, Bhoomika appreciated the experience of exploring San Diego in her free time during the trip: "We watched the sunset over the Pacif Ocean at Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, went to an arboretum at Balboa Park, ate the BEST tacos at Tacos El Gordo in Gaslamp Quarter, and had refreshing gelato in Little Italy." When asked about what she enjoyed most, Bhoomika said, "I really can't pick a favorite part; this was my first time traveling without my family, so it will definitely hold a special place in my heart as I further emerge into adulthood."

Riley McCoy also attended the SfN conference. Riley is in the Marcinkiewcz Lab, and he studies how serotonergic and noradrenergic brain circuitry are altered in disorders like Alzheimer's Disease and Alcohol Use Disorder. Riley commented on the amount of people in attendance of SfN: "The scale of the conference was mind-blowing. I really liked meeting other students and learning about their own career trajectories." On scientific connections, Riley mentioned that he had the chance to "connect with other labs doing niche research similar to my own, which is something that is rare for researchers. I was able to receive a lot of career and personal growth input from professional development workshops and from grad students on a similar path."

Riley says that his favorite part of the trip was "seeing the cutting-edge research being done by famous figures in the field." He also took advantage of the area's fun activities, recounting that he "was able to stop by the San Diego Zoo, which was an awesome experience."

Klaertje Hesselink attended the Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering Symposium (FLICE) at North Carolina State University, as well as the 2025 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) National Conference in Boston, which she has attended three times since her sophomore year. Klaertje presented her research on synthesizing new catalysts for induction driven reactive carbon capture, focusing on making magnetic materials that can both capture and convert CO2 into more valuable chemicals. She was awarded a first place prize in the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Subdivision for her poster. Additionally, she gave an oral presentation on the importance of chemical process safety in the student technical session at the AIChE Conference. 

Klaertje's favorite part of attending the FLICE conference was "exploring NC State's engineering college and all of the really cool characterization and synthesis devices they had in their labs." She also appreciated the opportunity to build connections; "it was great to meet other senior chemical engineers and learn more about their research," she says. Klaertje's favorite moments from the AIChE National Conference were "catching up with my mentors from my summer programs and attending all the presentations."

On how she feels she benefitted academically from these conferences, Klaertje recounts that FLICE allowed her to "explore NC State's graduate program;" similarly, while at AIChE, she was able to "connect with potential graduate mentors and programs." Overall, Klaertje feels that both conferences were "great networking opportunities as well as ways to practice my scientific communication skills."