Megan Chiu Attends American Geophysical Union Conference In San Francisco: In Her Own Words

Megan Chiu '14

Not only is Megan Chiu '14 one of the top swimmers on Trinity's team, but she is also one of top students on Trinity's campus. She attended a conference in San Francisco this past December for the American Geophysical Union. She described her experience below in her own words:


Over the summer, I, along with a small group of students, wrote mobile applications (phone apps) that are currently being used in Haiti for food distribution purposes. One of the Trinity Professors, Jonathan Gourley, suggested we present our work at a conference that he would be attending, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Conference in San Francisco.


Four students, along with our project manager Trishan de Lanerolle and Professor Gourley, attended the actual conference.  When we landed in San Francisco, we drove down to the Fisherman's Wharf and had some delicious Italian food. Afterwards, we drove out to see the Golden Gate bridge.


The next morning, we woke up bright and early so that we could be at the Moscone Convention at 8:00 A.M. to present our work. The size of the convention center was probably around three football fields or less. I presented my work to people who were interested in how our work was being used in Haiti. Others were more interested in the sociological perspective of our research. 


After about four hours of presenting, we all went out to grab lunch and get some fresh air. When we got back to the Moscone Center, the atmosphere was a little more relaxing. There was an open poster session where people walked around looking at everyone else's posters.  There were over 22,000 attendees at this five day conference.


The last thing we did before our red eye flight back to Hartford was to see the Facebook building in Palo Alto. It was nice to see the place where all the "behind the scenes" action for the Facebook site happens. 

Reflecting upon this entire experience, I would say that all the time and effort that I put in to writing mobile applications for another country was definitely worth it.

After Megan's red eye flight back to Hartford, she swam to a lifetime best time in the 200 Fly against Wesleyan that night.