12th Aquatic Virus Workshop

Gretel Waugh

University of Queensland

The 12th Aquatic Virus Workshop (AVW) took place in Banyuls-sur-Mer, a town nestled into a rocky stretch of coastline where the Pyrénées tumble into the Mediterranean Sea. Despite arriving bedraggled by relentless storms, 120 participants brought a buzz of enthusiasm to the Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, where we were welcomed by the director, Yves Desdevises. AVW brings together a growing community of researchers working on different aspects of viral dynamics in aquatic environments. For me, the workshop presented an interesting confluence of my current research interests and perhaps a stepping stone to my next career stage.

The workshop was quickly underway with sessions on green algal viruses, metabolism and ecosystem impacts of host-virus interactions. One of my favourite parts of a conference is the conversations and connections that arise during the poster session, and AVW was no different. On Monday evening I presented my poster (bathed in the blue light of the octopus tank at the Biodiversarium!), which sparked some interesting discussions and left me with plenty of ideas to consider as I write up this work.


Tuesday arrived with a litany of talks spanning from oceanic upwellings to desert lakes, and electron microscopy to metagenomics. All this while my list of “literature to follow up on” continued to expand! Wednesday brought the conference dinner, which was hosted by one of the vineyards nearby. It was a privilege to enjoy local produce and sample the traditional wine from the region, where Catalan heritage is proudly celebrated. By the end of the night, there wasn’t a single attendee still in their seat as a local band tempted everyone to the dance floor.

In parallel to our workshop, local researchers organised the “Virus Open Day”, hosted at the Biodiversarium. Local PhD researchers had created miniature replicas of the sampling equipment on board an ocean-going expedition and welcomed the public to a step-by-step explanation of the collection and analysis of viral communities. My highlight of the day was trying out a virtual reality virus game developed by Chuan Xiao (River) and collaborators: donning the VR glasses transported me to the interior of a bacterial cell, where I could interact with protein structures and invading phages in 3D!


Friday opened with a plenary lecture from Corina Brussaard, who expanded our vocabulary beyond the viral shunt and viral shuttle to include the viral loop, sweep, and even the viral booster. Following this, the last session was flexible and facilitated opportunities for open discussion. Since many methods are shared across labs and environmental systems, there was plenty of synergy as we exchanged ideas and challenges that we have encountered in the lab and beyond. Finally, the week concluded with the award ceremony, bids to host the next workshop, and well-deserved recognition for the organisers.

The workshop went by in a whirlwind and it was exciting to take a deep dive into aquatic virology, a field at the intersection of my current research in marine microbiology and viral evolution. Engaging with researchers from across the world at such a pivotal stage of my career has expanded both my academic network and the potential reach of my work in ways that I wouldn’t have imagined a few years ago. AVW provided valuable opportunities for networking, and I met inspiring researchers who I hope may become colleagues or collaborators. Finally, I’d like to acknowledge the Challenger Society’s generosity in supporting my attendance at AVW – I’m grateful to have the opportunity and hope that it will serve as a springboard for my future research.


Profile:
I am a final-year PhD student from the University of Queensland and Australian Institute of Marine Science. Within my PhD I am studying the responses of coastal seawater microbiomes to environmental stress, and have co-developed a framework to support the inclusion of microbial communities in water quality guideline values. I also work part-time between the Universities of Exeter and Bath in the UK, where I am investigating phage-bacteria coevolution and gene regulation. These diverse projects have given me the opportunity to explore microbial ecology and evolution across spatiotemporal scales, and I am most interested in translating how interaction at the microscale can shape dynamics across the global oceans.