St Andrews VIP Conference 2022-23 Sem 2

On the 15^th of March 2023, staff and students from the Dolphin Acoustics VIP attended the second annual VIP conference, where all the Vertically Integrated Projects at St Andrews come together to share their work with each other and prospective new students. This year’s conference had a rocky start, as building problems at our planned venue meant a new location had to be found at extremely short notice. Thankfully, St Mark’s Church was able to accommodate us, and the conference went ahead on schedule.

A member of the VIP giving a presentation about the work we are doing with dolphin acoustics.

The conference was divided into two main sections. In the first half, all the VIPs gave presentations about their work. It was fascinating to hear about the range of projects that make up the VIP program, from a project on cinema to one on the local botanic garden

After listening to the presentations, we moved upstairs for a poster session and complementary lunch. Students took it in turns to stay by the poster to answer questions, and circulate around to see other projects’ posters. Many people were interested in the Dolphin Acoustics project, and we got lots of enthusiastic questions.

The first poster introduced the projects aims, data collection methods, past projects, and the biological and statistical side of the project. The second poster highlighted the computer science side of the project.

The day concluded with a prize-giving, and thanks to the team’s commitment, our VIP won best science poster for the second year in a row. We are looking forward to next year’s conference.