 Fall 2003 |
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ABLE Members Visit Las Vegas Roberta Williams |
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The 25th annual ABLE conference was held June 3rd through 7th at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. One hundred thirty people came to see the Mohave Desert and sample 100-degree heat. The hike from the dorms to the Biology building was long enough to give them a good sampling. Tuesday’s field trips took participants to Hoover Dam, Shark Reef (yes, there are sharks in the desert, compliments of the Bellagio Hotel) and the gardens of the Mirage Hotel. The field trips were led by UNLV graduate students, and from their reports, each trip was an interesting and educational experience. The workshop format was a little different this year. As it was the 25th anniversary of ABLE, ten of the workshops were reprises of highly successful workshops selected from among those of the past ten years. This experiment worked well, and each of the invited workshops was well attended. New workshops included problem-based learning, measuring stomata, invertebrate locolympics, DNA microarrays, anatomy of lower plants, and hypothesis formation and evaluation. The anniversary party was held Friday night at the Golden Nugget Hotel. Anna Wilson, ABLE’s historian, put together a wonderful show that allowed everyone to reminisce and see how young we once looked. After dinner, the group wandered the Fremont Street Experience -- I heard that a few made some money on the slot machines. Then it was back to the dorms via the Strip. Friday night traffic gave everyone a good view of the new hotels. Saturday, three different groups explored the Mohave Desert. I led the group to Valley of Fire, an area that is covered with red sandstone formations. Everyone’s imagination conjured up fascinating objects in the unusual formations that stood in sharp contrast with the deep blue sky. We did our hiking in the morning before the temperature reached the century mark. We spent the afternoon at the Lost City Museum, where ABLE members left more money in that gift shop then they did in the casinos. I understand that the group that went fossil hunting successfully found some on the Arrow Canyon trip. I did not get any feedback from the Ash Meadows trip. I hope those who went on that trip had an enjoyable time. It was fitting that I hosted ABLE this year, as I will be retiring at the end of the 2003-2004 academic year. ABLE has given me so much in the 18 years that I have been a member and I hope I have given something back to ABLE. The friendships I made over the years I shall cherish all my life. Editor's note: Also see some great photos
from ABLE 2003 taken by Robert Kosinski, Karen McMahon, and Rick
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