COA 2022 Convention: Well Done, Texas!

National Shell Museum’s Executive Director Sam Ankerson and I recently participated in the Conchologists of America (COA) 2022 Convention in Galveston, Texas. The successful event was held at the Moody Garden Hotel and Convention Center, which also hosts a world-class Aquarium and an cool, oops, hot and humid Rainforest “biosphere”.

View from Moody Garden Hotel. Pyramids are the Aquarium (center) and the Rainforest (right). Photo by Kristen Green.

At the gathering, I presented a talk about science and research at the Museum and, on the way home, Sam and I took the opportunity to visit the comprehensive Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), spending time in its remarkable George W. Strake Hall of Malacology.

The Strake Hall of Malacology (background) at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

The Hall was renovated in 2019, and now displays a vast array of shells, emphasizing biodiversity of and variation in mollusks. We thank HMNS Curator of Malacology Tina Petway for her hospitality, and the Texas COA crew for a great event in Galveston!