The Challenger 150 Conference
Stamatia Galata
Liverpool John Moores University
Caption:HMS Challenger Expedition Crew in 1874 - Image © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
I cannot express enough my gratitude towards the Challenger Society, which supported me with the travel grant for my participation to The Challenger 150 conference hosted by The Natural History Museum and Imperial College, in London from 5th to 9th of September 2022.
It was my honour to participate with my talk on deep-sea mining to a conference, that it signifies the birth of international and interdisciplinary oceanography. After 150 years from its first expedition, scientists in every level of their career gathered to celebrate this event and cover the latest research in oceanography. It was amazing that in 3 days, in 3 different places a variety of topics were covered, from marine conservation and geology to arts. There were so interesting parallel sessions that it was hard to choose which I should attend.
During the conference, I had the opportunity to meet people peers from different backgrounds working in similar topics, but also senior researchers, who gave me advice how I should proceed with my studies. In addition, plenary sessions, such as Early-Career Mixer Event, offered me the chance to discuss about the future in terms of CV with experts.
Furthermore, I would like to share the highlight for me from this conference; I imagine that you will expect to hear something about my talk. Therefore, for me, it was the last talk of the conference about the history of HMS Challenger. Challenger was innovative from the beginning; its crew included an official photographer, an artist, who was a woman, as well as two parrots, a dog, and a goat. Challenger, already from 1872, shows us that science includes every discipline and everyone regardless background or origin. It is an inspiring fact.
Overall, my experience in the Challenger 150 Conference was unique. For the first time, I was in a conference so big, and sometimes it felt intimidating and overwhelming but, I couldn’t be happier for this. I met amazing people, developed my soft skills and I gained more confidence.
Profile
After completing my BA in History, Archaeology and History of Art, MA in Black Sea and MSc in Maritime Archaeology, life took me in totally unexpected and interesting career path. In Liverpool John Moores University, I started my PhD project, which is on the automated quantification of microplastics using open-source python code. However, my project doesn’t involve only plastic particles, at the same time I study the quantity and quality of the organic matter in the deep-sea sediment and organisms.
Latest News
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
REGISTER HERE
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