Meghana Binraj, Species and Spaces Foundation
What was the most rewarding part?
The most fintastic part of SI2026 was the chance to reflect on my own journey while reconnecting with friends, mentors, collaborators, funders, and peers from around the world. People who have shared their skills, knowledge, encouragement, and support over the years. Winning the Best Student Poster Award at SI2026 was a deeply special moment. It gave me a sense of belonging and reaffirmed that my work matters. More than a personal achievement, it felt like a reflection of everyone who had invested in my potential and helped shape me as a shark scientist and my work. I’m incredibly grateful for those opportunities and the people behind them.
What is one key takeaway that you will apply in your work?
I’ve never been particularly good at actively learning in information-dense conference settings. Instead, I tend to absorb things subconsciously and spend my time catching up with long-distance friends. But my mind is always working in the background, quietly taking notes on the gaps and asking what might be living within them.
Across sessions, I kept encountering familiar research directions, recurring themes, established frameworks, and well-trodden questions. That’s not a criticism. If anything, those patterns highlighted where the field’s collective attention hasn’t yet gone—especially when viewed through the lens of field-based experience. Which perspectives and voices are missing? What questions aren’t being asked? Where are genuinely new angles needed?
One of the most valuable things conferences do isn’t just tell us what we know. If we’re paying attention, they can reveal exactly where the blind spots are.
I’m also taking home something more personal: your research journey will not always follow a conventional path. It can feel lonely, especially when you’re working outside established networks or pursuing questions that don’t fit neatly into existing priorities. But meaningful work has a way of finding its audience. There will always be people who believe in what you’re doing. Finding those people and staying true to your questions, actions, and values, even when it’s difficult, matters just as much as any formal collaboration or recognition.
I now have a long list of pressing questions and a real appetite to dive straight into them. After all, I believe we can fix this fintastic mess.
