International Insect Hormone Workshop in Japan – 30th August 2017
By Michelle Henstridge
Last month I was lucky enough to attend the 3rd International Insect Hormone Workshop held in the beautiful Nasu Highland region of Japan. It was my first time in Japan and I was very spoilt with beautiful scenery, amazing food, and most importantly a fantastic workshop with some of the leading scientists in my field. It was possibly the best meeting I have been to during my career, I learnt so much about the different hormones and signalling pathways that regulate developmental timing and body size in insects such as Drosophila in response to various developmental and environmental cues.
Christen was invited to attend the workshop and present some of the lab’s latest data in the “neuroendocrine regulation of organ and body growth” session. It was great having Christen attend the meeting with me as she was able to introduce me to many of the scientists whose papers I read so often. My abstract was also accepted for an oral presentation in a session on “neuronal control of developmental timing” and I received a lot of valuable feedback on my work.
When we weren’t busy listening to the great science people are doing, we had a little bit of time to enjoy our surroundings with an afternoon bus trip to see the shrines in Nikko. Unfortunately this was the only day of our trip where it rained, but we set out with our umbrellas and had a fun afternoon.
Overall I had a great time at my first International Insect Hormone Workshop, and would like to thank the organisers for putting together such a fantastic meeting. I definitely plan to attend the next workshop to be held in Crete, Greece in 2019.
