This conference put us up at the Steamboat Grand Hotel- in the suites. On the 7th floor that you needed a key to access. There were 5 of us to a room, but the place was so large I don't think I even saw two of them the whole time we were there. It was at least 2 times as large as my current house. Here's the living room (there was also a full kitchen, dining room, 5 bedrooms, and 3.5 baths):
Definitely the nicest place I've ever stayed (and quite a different experience from staying with 8 other women scientists in one room- and one bathroom- in Norway. The sad thing is, I bet they were about the same cost).
This conference was really wonderful- because it was all about women in science, and why keeping women in science is important. See, right now, up to about the Master's level there's a pretty equal division between men and women in the sciences- which is great; it certainly wasn't like that even 20 years ago. But for some reason there's a huge drop-off of women going into postdocs, faculty, and senior scientist positions. Most people think it's the biological clock issue- which likely plays a role. Maternity rights in this country are just awful compared to almost anywhere. But it also might just be because women feel isolated in their fields. So one goal of this conference was to bring young scientists together and make them feel... well, less isolated.
And in that respect, I think it was a success. I met a lot of awesome people. We talked science. We talked life. We got to go see the Storm Peak Lab:
View from Storm Peak (that's Steamboat below):
Wildflowers at Storm Peak- which is basically in the middle of the ski resort. The people who do studies here ski to work in the winter!
We also had lots of time to go out to dinner, and enjoy the wonderful weather that Steamboat has to offer this time of year.
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