This poem written by Anna Bednarska piece by piece throughout the whole conference sums it all – may be not as well as the abstract book, but certainly in a more concise and poetic way.
I love all Daphnia so much,
even when old ephippia won’t hatch,
even when their behavior is bad
just because their food has no fat,
even when they produce too few young
to make my statistics strong,
even when their inducible morph
makes them look like a dwarf,
even when Metschnikowia spores
do no infect whole cohorts,
even when they’re mangled and spat out
after escaping fish mouth,
even when lakes eutrophication
drives them to hybridization,
even when “new” species that hops my jars
was already described by Sars,
even when gene up-regulation
causes a rejuvenation,
even when high salinity water
makes evolving spots hotter,
but also ‘cause Piet’s norm of reaction
would make a fun publication.
So now I will jump to conclusion
working with Daphnia leads to confusion,
But even though they make my life hard
I still love them with all of my heart.