While most UBRP students were busy enjoying Tucson and working at the bench, between June 17 and 21, 2006, I was in Baltimore, Maryland with one thing on my mind: SPIDERS. After one shuttle (which I nearly missed), three flights, one taxi and 13 hours of travel on June 17, I finally climbed the stairs to the main residence hall of the College of Notre Dame to sign in for the 30th annual meeting of the American Arachnological Society (AAS).

Before I arrived, my mind ran wild imagining what it would be like: hallways of rooms monopolized by arachnophiles, staying up late drinking beer and conversing with the great arachnologists, head lamps and vials being broken out at night to see what kinds of critters are around, good laughs and spider jokes with good people. I am delighted to report that the conference met all of my expectations
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Over 150 people from across North America, ranging from famous arachnologists to students to arachnid enthusiasts and museum volunteers attended the spider meetings, as they are called in the field. Sunday through Tuesday were packed with 57 oral presentations and 37 posters on topics ranging from ecology and behavior of arachnids to arachnid physiology, morphology and systematics. But despite the broad array of scientific specialties, all present shared at least one value: a strong appreciation for the incredible diversity and biology of arachnids.

Due the small size of the conference relative to conferences held in more prominent fields, the presentations were arranged consecutively, such that anyone who wanted to hear all of them would have the opportunity to do so. Students at various stages in their education gave 18 of the 57 oral presentations. Two of my lab mates from Lewis and Clark, my home college, in Portland, Oregon, and I fell into that category. Students presented 12 of the 37 posters. The spider meetings were, in my opinion, an ideal first scientific meeting at which to present research. The non-competitive nature of the meetings as well as the die-hard arachnid enthusiasm of the attendees resulted in a comfortable atmosphere in which to share and discuss new and exciting information about the spider world. My research regarding the biomechanics of particle adhesion to the cuticle of spiders that use sand to camouflage themselves brought thoughtful feedback and advice from the many brilliant minds present at the meetings.

Between presentations, the AAS kept us busy with field trips, feasts and a "casual night with arachnids," a presentation that featured photography from field expeditions and video clips of fascinating arachnid behavior. We spent most of our evenings talking with others over beer at neighborhood bars or on the second floor balcony of the residence hall that housed us. During these unforgettable nights generation gaps were bridged by our shared passion for arachnids and friends of all ages were made.

To top off the meetings, 13 attendees (including me) traveled to Washington D.C. for one last field trip: a tour of some of the scientific collections at the Smithsonian Institute (SI). We followed Jon Coddington, the curator of the arachnid collection at the SI and a leading spider systematist, through the narrow, nearly identical corridors of the arachnid, entomology, ornithology, worm invertebrate and anthropology collections. We had the privilege of viewing exciting specimens such as extinct bird species like the passenger pigeon, an original specimen collected by Charles Darwin, Priapulids (known by the common name "penis worms") and mummies that were so close you could smell them.

One of the highlights of the conference was undoubtedly the people I met. Interacting with so many wonderful and brilliant arachnologists made me realize why I love arachnology: Arachnologists are passionate, creative and, as you may suspect, a little bit quirky. The more senior arachnologists gladly discussed research and shared exciting stories from the field with the inspired students, and through these interactions I felt appreciated and regarded as an equal. Additionally, several AAS members considered the meetings a sort of "family reunion" because of the close friendships and personal and intellectual connections between people in the field (finally, people who don't think talking about spiders is weird!).

So why doesn't everyone want to study spiders? Is it because, for some very odd reason, which I cannot fathom, that you don't like them!!!!

Rebecca Duncan, Visiting UBRPer from Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon working in Dr. Matt Cordes's lab, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics