This year marked the first time that I have attended the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Meeting in 16 years. Unlike the last experience I had with the SICB meeting, this was truly enjoyable. It was great to see friends and colleagues, particularly Prof. Toru Shimizu, and listen to a wide range of interesting talks on animal behaviour, morphometrics and neurobiology. This was also the first time I have taken more than a couple of students to a meeting: 2 graduate students (Ben, Felipe) and 2 undergraduate students (Krista, Kelsey). All of them did an excellent job presenting their posters in a crowded and somewhat gruelling poster session. After that, we met with up with Kara Yopak and headed to the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City for a lot of food and a lot of sangria. Followed of course by meeting up with "Pirate Steve" wandering the street.

Overall, a great meeting and very proud to have these students working in my lab (just don't tell them that).