I decided to go to ESA too late to be able to present any research. I still had a great time meeting new colleagues and catching up with old friends. Even though I couldn't present at ESA, I was able to get on stage and do a stand-up act in Baltimore. It's called outreach, people.

Erik, Dan Copeland (documentary filmmaker), and I spent a week in Reykjavik, Iceland collecting samples for Erik's PhD project. Here is a photo moments after we arrived in Reykjavik after 26 hours of travel. We collected all the samples (soil, biofilm, and sediment) that we needed and quite a few samples from Mikkeler and Friends (best bar in Iceland) that were maybe less necessary.