I received the ALIFE 2025 Award!

I’m still a little lost for words, but I wanted to write a short note to say how grateful and humbled I am to have received the ALIFE 2025 Award at the ALIFE conference, for my services to the conference.

ALIFE 2025 (Ciphers of Life) was a really special conference, and being recognised in this way by a community I care about so much means a great deal to me.

If I’m honest, the recognition belongs at least as much to everyone I got to work alongside. Organising anything at a conference of this scale is very much a team effort, and I was lucky to share it with brilliant, generous people.

I had an enormous amount of fun helping to put together some of the things that made the week what it was: the scavenger hunt, the public expo (which we plan on making digital soon!), and the conference mascot design competition were all really fun to put together. It was wonderful to see attendees (and the public!) throw themselves into them.

Trying to make artificial life a little more engaging, playful, visible, and welcoming is something I’m really fond of, so getting to do it at this year’s conference was a real privilege.

On top of all that, I was also fortunate enough to present my own paper, Social Allostasis: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Noise. A lovely bonus in an already memorable week :)

Thank you to the organisers, the community, and everyone who made ALIFE 2025 what it was.