I have been doing this for many years — not attending conferences, only traveling by vehicle with other people in the Pacific Northwest. The amount of traveling education professionals do for conferences is significant, and there is no reason that we can’t get this learning online and still have a sense of collaboration within distance learning areas connected to the primary conference. It could be even more powerful in getting more people involved in sustainability/climate issues.
My focus is on teaching; I have not published anything yet but have plans to write a book about my relations and close encounters with wildlife and other non-human life, and what I have learned about the bigger living world.