Conference attendance at the European Geosciences Union General assembly 2025

Cathilyn McIntosh

University of St Andrews

At the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, I had the opportunity to give my first conference talk in the Beyond Blue Carbon: Bridging disciplines to understand vegetated coastal ecosystem dynamics under global change session. My presentation, “Soil organic carbon content and reactivity at the pioneer saltmarsh–mudflat ecotone,” shared preliminary findings from a commissioned report by Natural England. I discussed the potential vulnerability of organic matter stored within UK saltmarsh and mudflat ecosystems, drawing attention to the implications for long-term carbon storage. Following the session, I was able to connect with other researchers working in similar fields. These conversations opened up the possibility of future collaborations and provided valuable feedback to inform the next stages of my project.

Throughout the week, I attended a wide range of events including poster sessions, short courses, oral presentations, and townhall meetings. One standout experience was the Beyond Blue Carbon poster session, where I identified several projects that directly complemented my own research and expanded my perspective on blue carbon science. I also attended two short courses: “Maintaining your literature review: tools, tips, and discussions to help keep up with evolving research” and “How to peer-review.” These sessions were particularly helpful in equipping me with practical strategies for managing academic literature, prioritizing my reading, and understanding different approaches to literature and data base searches. The peer review workshop also explained the various review processes and offered insight into how and when early career researchers can begin contributing as reviewers.

A particularly impactful experience was attending the townhall meeting “Blue Carbon Opportunities for Early Career Researchers.” This panel featured both early career and established researchers from academia and industry, who shared their career trajectories, strategies for navigating the job market, and perspectives on work-life balance, mental health, and managing family life in research. The discussion highlighted a diversity of career paths, some of which I hadn’t previously considered, such as long-term postdoctoral roles, and helped me better understand the landscape of blue carbon research beyond traditional academic routes.

Outside of the conference, I had the chance to explore the city of Vienna. A personal highlight was visiting the butterfly house, a large vivarium showcasing a diverse collection of butterflies and a hatchery where I could observe newly emerged individuals.


As a first-year PhD candidate from the United States, attending EGU was an invaluable experience. It not only contributed significantly to the development of my PhD project, but also allowed me to gain a broader understanding of the international research landscape. Engaging with researchers from across Europe at such an early stage in my PhD journey has expanded both my academic network and the potential reach of my work in ways that would not have been possible through UK- or US-based events alone.

Profile:
I am a PhD candidate at the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, under the supervision of Dr. William E.N. Austin and Dr. Julie Anne Hope. My PhD project focuses on carbon reactivity along natural saltmarsh–mudflat ecotonal gradients within the UK. I aim to investigate the drivers of organic carbon reactivity and its implications for long-term carbon storage in coastal sediment systems.