What I Learned Between the Conference Sessions

When I packed for the 2025 AFAANZ Conference in Brisbane, I expected the usual ingredients of an academic conference: presentations, research papers, questions, discussions — and probably more PowerPoint slides than anyone could reasonably remember.

What I did not expect was to come home thinking about massages, ferry rides, photo booths, new friendships, and why some of the best learning happens when nobody is presenting a paper.

I went to Brisbane to present my research and spend a few days with scholars working on topics close to my own interests — climate-related disclosure, ESG, market behaviour, and climate finance.

Presenting your own research is always an interesting experience. You spend months thinking deeply about one question, then suddenly have about fifteen minutes to convince a room full of people that they should care about it too.

A PhD teaches efficiency in unexpected ways.

But some of my favourite moments at AFAANZ happened between the serious academic ones.

After discussing research, there were nail treatments and massages. There was a photo booth. There was a gala dinner with live music. My friends and I could talk, laugh, take silly photos, and temporarily forget that regressions existed.

I loved the contrast.

One moment, you are discussing climate-related disclosure and market responses.

The next, you are trying to decide which photo-booth pose looks the least embarrassing.

Apparently, both belong to academic life.

Brisbane itself became part of the experience. I explored the city, visited the University of Queensland, and discovered that ferries are part of everyday public transport. The Brisbane River winds through the city, and seeing a new place always makes me curious about how people live, work, and experience their surroundings.

None of this was technically part of my research.

And yet, I think it was very much part of my learning.

A PhD asks us to go very deeply into a small number of questions. That depth matters. But sometimes we also need the opposite — to step outside our little research world.

New people give us different perspectives. New places make us curious. Conversations over coffee or dinner can stay with us just as long as a conference presentation. And sometimes simply having fun sends us back to our work with fresh energy.

I went to Brisbane to share my research.

I came home with new ideas, new friends, memories of a new city — and quite a few photos that will probably never make it into an academic paper.

I think that's a pretty good conference outcome.