I’d like to start off by thanking my project principal investigator and CADRE for the great opportunity to be part of the large gathering of researchers at the 2010 DR K-12 Meeting. It was a place where I observed how easily great researchers and early career researchers like myself equally participated and engaged in discussions around topics that are of critical importance in the field. The discussions were not just centered on the successes of some projects but were works in progress that highlighted barriers to research implementation, methodological issues, dissemination issues, curricula, and professional developmental work. The discussions informed my own work as well as helped me understand how there is a group of people working around similar issues that I need to connect and collaborate with.

What surrounded the entire meeting was the desire for more current, relevant, and impactful research around the STEM areas. Not only was there an emphasis for more researchers to come forward, but also for the community as a whole to think differently about what education and research in education can be and should likely be in a few decades. The constant exposure to information about available funding avenues and accessibility to people was something that amazed me. As an early career researcher, my thoughts were always about learning the nuts and bolts of funding opportunities and how I could use that to work on meaningful research. But the fact that there were approachable people who I could talk to as well as a flow of ideas that I could tap into helped me immensely.

What do I perceive as an opportunity and a challenge after the meeting? The theme was essentially to bring together people to collaborate and synthesize their work. This was mentioned in group poster sessions and in SIG meetings and elsewhere in the meeting. I think this meeting is and will continue to be a great opportunity for researchers to work together, synthesizing great research proposals and addressing issues in the field. But carrying the networks beyond the meeting to another level of engagement comes to me as a challenge that we need to think about to make it work. I hope the community establishes ways of maintaining this, and that is something I’d like to learn as well!