By Cassandra Bradshaw, PhD student at the University of Ottawa

In July 2024, the International Botanical Congress (IBC) had its 20^th meeting, held in Madrid, Spain. This meeting of botanists from around the world is typically only held every 6 years, so for many students there is only one chance to attend during their degree. Thanks to the QCBS Excellence Award, I was able to take my opportunity to not only attend, but also present at this large, multi-national conference.

I began my research career with an undergraduate project to resolve the phylogenetic placement of a species of sedge (a grass-like plant) endemic to an isolated oceanic island. For someone who had no prior knowledge of Cyperaceae, the sedge family, this project was a crash course on the taxa. During my literature review, I became familiar with many of the big names in the field of Cyperaceae systematics. Eventually, two of these names became the co-supervisors of my PhD project. 

Cyperaceae is a large, cosmopolitan family. This means that to fully address its taxonomy and phylogeny, a coordinated effort from scientists worldwide is needed. As such, the far-flung community of sedge systematists is paradoxically tight knit. To address the questions my thesis poses, I have needed the aid and guidance of many of its members. This has put me in the position of exchanging regular correspondence with authors whose papers I have been reading for years.

Some time during the second year of my graduate studies, the Cyperaceae community began planning in preparation for their symposia at the upcoming IBC. I was asked to submit an abstract for an oral presentation on my research, which was later accepted. Several months later, I was on my way to Madrid along with ca. 3000 other botanists. 

Suddenly, I was presenting my research to colleagues that I had never thought I would meet in-person, and scientists that, while I had heard of them, had certainly never heard of me. Botanists from Japan, Australia, Spain, and many more countries crammed themselves into an overflowing room in the peak of Madrid’s heat. Together, we reported on our ongoing progress in disentangling the systematics of Cyperaceae. Such a niche topic is usually met with mild interest in more general settings, but here everyone was engaged, enthusiastic, and welcoming. 

While it was a privilege to present at the congress, the true value of this conference was the connections I strengthened and made during my time there. One night, the Cyperaceae group all went to dinner. We wandered through the city towards a tapas restaurant, where we all got the chance to talk in a casual setting. As a student, it’s easy to be intimidated by the established researchers in your field. This dinner and the rest of the conference demystified the people I had built up as giants in my head, making them approachable, friendly, and crucially, human. Not only did I feel welcomed into the Cyperaceae research community, but I also realized that I was already a part of it.

Travel always brings perspective, but international conferences have the added benefit of bringing together people from all around the world. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to attend IBC and have immense gratitude to the QCBS for the support it provided. I will carry the connections made and the lessons learned at the conference with me through the rest of my career, and I hope all early-career biologists receive a similar opportunity to meet the community of researchers in their chosen field.

About the author:

Cassandra Bradshaw is a PhD student at the University of Ottawa and is co-supervised by Drs. Julian Starr (University of Ottawa) and Étienne Léveillé-Bourret (Université de Montréal). She is a plant systematist researching the sedge grade Fuireneae s.l. in the family Cyperaceae.