13th International Coral Reef Symposium: Hawaii
Elena Bollati
NOCS
(Photo caption: Taking a break from the conference to roast marshmallows on hot lava flowing from the Kilauea volcano. Photo credit: Dr Sabrina Rosset)
This summer, the Challenger Society Student Travel Award gave me the opportunity to present my research at the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Held every 4 years, ICRS is by far the largest and most important meeting in the world of coral reef science, hosting over 2,500 delegates from at least 80 different countries.
Attending ICRS had been one of my career dreams ever since I became interested in the field of coral biology, and I was not let down. Over the five days I sat in more than one hundred talks, covering topics from molecular biology and microbiology all the way to the management and conservation issues that coral reefs currently face. As there were often up to ten concurrent sessions, I had to perfect the art of ‘session-hopping’ so I wouldn’t miss the talks I was most interested in. I had no idea one could learn so much in only 5 days!
My presentation was on coral photoconvertible fluorescent proteins as a potential adaptation to low light environments, a research project I completed during the first year and a half of my PhD. Although I had presented these results before, this was the first time I showed them to leading experts in the field of coral fluorescence. Some of them gave me very positive feedback, which made it worth the hours I had spent preparing my slides and rehearsing my talk.
The conference was also a great occasion to catch up with colleagues and to build new connections. In the breaks between sessions, I had meetings about projects that will be part of my future PhD work, which involve collaborations in California, Scotland and Israel.
After the conference, I had the opportunity to spend some time exploring Hawaii with my colleagues. Among many highlights, I had the incredible luck to witness a lava flow from the Kilauea volcano and to scuba dive with a group of manta rays.
Presenting at ICRS was has been one of the best and most productive experiences of my PhD studies so far, and I am extremely grateful to the Challenger Society for Marine Science for funding my attendance.
Profile:
Elena Bollati is a second year PhD student with the Coral Reef Laboratory, University of Southampton. Her research focuses on using coral fluorescence as an indicator of environmental stress in tropical coral reefs. The project involves long term experiments in a mesocosm aquarium, where by manipulating temperature and water quality Elena explores how the interaction between multiple stressors affects the optical properties of corals.
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Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset
The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) and OceanWise are delighted to invite you to attend our popular free online training workshop: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ on the 19th – 23rd of May 2025.
Workshop on the contribution of UK Arctic Ocean science to the International Polar Year 32/33
12:00 11th June – 16:00 12th June 2025: NOC Southampton (In-person with online option): Registration deadline 16th May
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Pre-meeting questionnaire (open to all)
The purpose of this workshop is for the UK Ocean Science community to discuss and then draft a prospectus document outlining the priority Arctic research questions the community would like to address during the run up to, throughout and beyond the International Polar Year 32/33. Additionally, to identify what unique strengths and technologies the UK has to help fill these knowledge gaps.
The second day of the workshop will be dedicated to writing groups, one for each of the priority research questions identified - from both the pre-meeting questionnaire (HERE) and day one discussion. By the end of the meeting, each group will have produced draft text and sourced supporting figures for the prospectus.
Post meeting, the draft will be opened for comments and suggestions from everyone, regardless of whether they were able to attend the workshop or not. It will then be shared with UK funders (UKRI, FCDO, DSIT, ARIA) and potential international programmes with whom we would like to collaborate (e.g. Arctic 2050, Norway). It will form a basis from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities can be built, e.g. at the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September in Northumbria.
To ensure balanced community and ECR representation, and to ensure that the size of the writing groups is efficient and effective, if the number of registrations from individual institutes becomes overwhelming, we may contact individuals or teams and ask that each institute selects a smaller number of individuals to attend in-person. Please wait for confirmation of in-person attendance before finalising travel arrangements.
The workshop will be open to hybrid attendance and contributions on both days.
Challenger Society Council Position Vacancy
The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to support the next generation of ocean scientists and innovators. CSMS are looking for a new Council member to fill the Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones Portfolio. The successful applicant will administer the travel and research grants available for Early Career Researchers.
The role involves:
- Receiving applications for the two schemes and responding to applicant inquiries
- Soliciting and compiling input from the rest of the Council for assessing the applications
- Communicating with successful and unsuccessful applicants for the two schemes
- Working with the Honorary Treasurer on allocating funds to successful applicants
- Following up with award winners on their reporting requirements
- Attending Council meetings four times a year (in person or online) and contributing to discussions and decision making for CSMS
The usual term for Council members is three years.
For more information about the CSMS Council, please follow this link: https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council
For more information about our Early Career Researcher grants and awards, please follow this link:
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Stepping_Stones
and
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Travel_awards
If you are interested in applying or have any questions regarding the role, please contact kathen@bas.ac.uk