Not long ago I thought that conference travel was a perk of the trade, and helped compensate for the academic salary and lack of six-figure bonuses. This was despite the fact that I have been a leftie/green for as long as I can remember. Denial works in mysterious ways. Now I have read Six degrees by Mark Lynas and see airport expansion potentially going crazy in London - and I think maybe all this conference travel can be reduced.
The trigger for this post? I just received some spam for some conference in Dubai and wonder how people can accept the long-haul key-note invitations with a clear conscience? (I reiterate that I would have done so a few years ago.)
I still have to cross the Atlantic roughly once a year for a collaborators meeting. I wouldn't be very popular if I said "no".
I don't have anything good to say about video conferencing and don't really have any answers. Some discussion might be useful though...
(Image attribution: Drewski2112 at flickr.com)
