The center of the solar system shifts to San Francisco next week @theAGU. Get ready for some science! http://t.co/STkRRm1pN9 #agu13

— NASA (@NASA) December 6, 2013

I’m excited to head to my final conference of the year – tomorrow, I am off to the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, held every December in San Francisco, California (and yes, during last week of classes or final exam week in every fall semester).  Every faculty member goes through a time of panic leading up to AGU, as documented in these tweets below (note that we have a meeting hashtag to use, #AGU13):

‘Twas the last week of class and the week before #AGU13…no geoscientists are getting any sleep this week.

— Anne Jefferson (@highlyanne) December 2, 2013

‘Twas the night before #AGU13 & I’m too tired to do anything about it.

— Anne Jefferson (@highlyanne) December 7, 2013

a plot of where I am in #AGU13 poster preparation pic.twitter.com/vZSMUeWjBZ

— Brian Romans (@clasticdetritus) December 5, 2013

Joking aside, faculty absolutely realize this is a stressful time for students, trying to get final reports completed and turned in, possibly taking final exams proctored by someone other than their professor, etc.  And trust me, students, we are just as stressed about our absence from the classroom at the very end of the semester!  In addition to writing final exams and grading final projects and reports, we have to prepare our research presentations!  But AGU is such an important meeting, packed with information on the latest scientific discoveries, best pedagogical practices for classroom teaching, and unique keynote presentations and events.

With over 20,000 people in attendance, I hope to connect with as many friends and colleagues as I can (including a former Penn State Brandywine student!) – but well aware that with the conference sessions split between three conference buildings, it may be difficult to see everyone!  Fortunately, geoscientists are a community well before and after the conference, as you can see from these helpful tips appearing on Twitter:

#AGU13 navigation tip: if at all possible, pick up your badge in Moscone on Sunday. Monday lines are insane.

— Alexandra Witze (@alexwitze) December 5, 2013

#AGU13 nutrition tip: almonds, cranberries & chocolate covered espresso beans will see you through an entire conference day if needed. — Alexandra Witze (@alexwitze) December 5, 2013

#AGU13 packing tip: bring an umbrella. Unless you want to end up with 20 years worth of cheap SF umbrellas like I own. — Alexandra Witze (@alexwitze) December 5, 2013

I have my umbrella packed, as well as all of my power cords and cables for my laptop, cell phone, and iPad, and oh yes, my poster for Thursday’s poster session!  I’ll also be participating in the AGU blogging panel, participating in the Council on Undergraduate Research workshop for faculty, and having fun at the NASA Social.  I have my fingers crossed that my flight will not be delayed, as I hope to attend Sunday afternoon’s session called Science Storytelling Workshop: Video-Making Tips and Tools.  That will be just the beginning of an overwhelming but exciting week!

Get ready for a solar system worth of #NASA news @theAGU starting Monday. Here’s a peek: http://t.co/STkRRm1pN9 #agu13 #SanFran

— NASA (@NASA) December 7, 2013