17th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium in Hong Kong

Lucy Goodwin

University of Liverpool

I was lucky to attend the 17th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium (DSBS) in January 2025, taking place in Hong Kong. The DSBS is every 3 years, so this was the only event occurring during my PhD. Due to its location, I would not have been able to attend without funding from the Challenger Society – for which I cannot thank them enough!

This symposium draws in a wide variety of people from across the globe and as a result, was attended by a few hundred people. It spanned 5 science-filled days, not including the welcome dinner at the day before the science kicked off. Attendees were delighted with some traditional Chinese arts: calligraphy on paper fans, Chinese zodiac paper cuttings, and hand-folded grasshoppers made from palm leaves. Not to mention endless dishes of dumplings, mushrooms I’d never seen before, rice and noodles – and that was only on the veggie tables! For many of us, the day finished on the rooftop bar of the hotel where I tried to meet new people despite battling jetlag.  

The conference officially kicked off the next morning, and the first two days were packed with talks on Microbiome, Genomics, Diversity and Taxonomy, and Ecology and Conservation – just to name a few sessions. We were treated to delicious Chinese lunches every day with food both new and familiar. And, as well as squeezing in a break when jetlag defeated me, I enjoyed fantastic presentations on gelatinous zooplankton trophic structure, and seafloor ecosystem function diversity. Day 2 ended with the poster session where I shared some work from the 2nd chapter of my PhD for the first time.


The morning of day 3 featured talks on phylogenetic diversity, and more ecology and conservation. In the afternoon, we embarked on various field trips. Given the choice between a UNESCO Global Geopark, Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park, and a Wetland Park, I went to visit the Marine Park – a protected site monitored by the WWF. Here, we were told about the variety of corals, fishes and invertebrates present locally, and the work done to protect these. This included an on-site nursery, where corals are cultivated and returned to the ocean to restore coral populations. Following this, we were taken out on a carefully navigated glass-bottomed boat, which allowed us to see all the corals we had just been taught about and observe the ecosystem. Thankfully, we were blessed by the sun and all really enjoyed this trip away.  


The 4th day featured the the final ecology and conservation session in which I was speaking. I gave my talk in the morning to a room of smiling faces made up of undergraduate students to renowned deep-sea scientists! While I was nervous in the moments leading up, my talk went fantastically and I really enjoyed doing it. Most importantly, I kept to time! I received some very enthusiastic questions afterwards, some of which gave me new angles to think about, and others which confirmed theories of my own. With my talk over, I enjoyed the rest of the day which included a fantastic keynote by the one and only Lisa Levin, and I spoke to many new people who wanted to learn more about my work. The conference banquet was in the evening, set to traditional Chinese music played live by an all-women band. Overall, this day really was a highlight for me.


The 5th and final day arrived, featuring sessions on art in science, and an open session with focus on diversity and democratisation. While I wish I could have attended both, I watched the open session and learned a lot about decolonising science and promoting diversity. Thankfully, due to the hybrid nature of the conference, I can now go back and watch recordings of talks that I missed. The conference was rounded off with the closing ceremony, consisting of award giving and lots of love and applause for the organisers and participating scientists.


Overall, the 17DSBS was a phenomenal experience and will be a highlight of my PhD. I visited a new place and ate incredible food, surrounded by beautiful scenery, and was even able to follow it up with a holiday to explore the remainder of Hong Kong. I met so many fantastic scientists who I hope will be collaborators in the future, and most importantly, I really enjoyed my time there. I leave one final huge thank you to the Challenger Society for granting the travel award which made my participation at this event possible.

Awardee Profile:
I am a third-year PhD student at the University of Liverpool, where I am supervised by Rachel Jeffreys and Jack Thomson, and Jennifer Durden (NOC), Adrian Glover (NHM) and Laura Pettit (JNCC). My research identifies relationships between megafaunal feeding niche and body size in abyssal plains. I aim to identify what drives these trends and which food type organisms rely upon. It is important to identify these trends as organismal functional roles may be dependent on body size. In a future of reduced fresh food availability due to climate change impacts, these functional roles could be lost.