Gordon Research Conference: Let's talk about biogenic hydrocarbons surrounded by forest!

From 10 to 15 June I visited with a few of my colleagues the Gordon Research Conference 2018 on Biogenic Hydrocarbons and the Atmosphere. The conference was held in Les Diablerets, close to my native city in the Swiss Alps.

Gordon Research Conferences are known to be at the cutting-edge of research with their policy of presenting latest results and strict rules about not disclosing anything that has been discussed at the conference to non-participants. It encourages discussing cutting edge research in an informal setting with lots of horizontal learning. Young and established researchers mix very well during meals, poster sessions, and free time activities.

This was my second Gordon Research Conference after the one on Atmospheric Chemistry last year in Maine, U.S.A. It was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues from various institutions, in particular with other researchers using the Comparative Reactivity Method (CRM) for total OH reactivity measurements. We could discuss our recent results and also exchange on our practical experiences with the method. It was also great to hear what the community of scientists around that topic are interested in: methods, models, various types of interactions, etc.

Figure 1. Form left to right: Conference venue named after the Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier in Les Diablerets, yours truly taking a selfie with the GRC cow in front of the hotel, and view of the surroundings from the conference center (Pictures: Arnaud Praplan, CC BY 4.0)

If you have never attended a Gordon Research Conference, check if there is one in your field of interest and check it out if you can! The schedule is always very similar with sessions in the morning and in the evening (including daily poster sessions) and a few hours of free time in the afternoon to network, socialize with other attendees, or just get outside and refresh your brain. Les Diablerets offers a nice scenery. It is surrounded by mountains and forests and meadows probably emitting lots of biogenic hydrocarbons into the atmosphere! On the last day of the conference, I went up in the mountain with a cable car in the afternoon even though it was a bit cloudy (it was still the fairest weather day of the whole conference). My legs were a bit shaking on the bridge between the peaks at an altitude of almost 3000 meters, but I am glad that I made it!

Figure 2. Top row from left to right: Yours truly on the bridge between peaks at roughly 3000m a.s.l., view of the bridge from the first peak, and view of the bridge from below. Bottom row from left to right: Cows in a Swiss alpine landscape, bridge over the Grande Eau river, and view of Les Diablerets from the Glacier 3000 cable car (Pictures: Arnaud Praplan and Eva Pfannerstill, CC BY 4.0)