Off to Kodiak - hopefully without allergies!

Cherry blossoms on the UW campus

When we came home from Iceland, spring was in full swing in Seattle. The cherry trees on campus are blooming, as is, accordingly to my allergies, everything else. I never had seasonal allergies - or really any allergies besides cats - until I moved to Washington. They've gotten progressively worse every year since I moved too. First it was just itchy eyes, then it was a slightly runny nose, and now it's an obnoxious combination of the two. I am not quite sure if it's just that I happened to develop allergies around the time I moved to Washington (I had only become allergic to cats 2 or 3 years before I moved), or that there are just so many more types of plants down here that I had never been exposed to in Alaska. In any case, according to the report of a nasty storm in Alaska, it is definitely still winter there and I am hoping that my sinuses will have a much-needed break while I'm  in Kodiak for the next few days.

I'm going to be attending the Marine Science Symposium. This event is going to bring together people who have been doing marine-related research in the Kodiak area over the last couple of decades. I'm excited to participate in the conference and present some preliminary results of my dissertation research. If you're in Kodiak too, come check it out!