ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting: Hawaii
Lucie Munns
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
Photo caption: Beautiful Hanauma Bay was just a 30-minute drive from the conference centre in Honolulu, and made the perfect trip to wind down after the conference. The snorkelling was exquisite, and it was fun to fulfil the marine biologist stereotype, for once!
In March this year, Aquatic Sciences, (the biennial ASLO conference) was held in the fabulous location of Hawaii. The view from the plane coming in to Honolulu was a strange juxtaposition of idyllic turquoise waters and high-rise apartment blocks. I spotted the enormous Hawaii Convention Centre, and the scale of this conference began to dawn on me. It is one of the largest meetings of marine and freshwater scientists in the world, and a great opportunity for researchers of a wide variety of discipline to come together to share knowledge and ideas. I felt lucky to be taking part, and incredibly grateful to Challenger Society for the financial assistance.
Just hours after getting off the plane I was getting stuck in to a Science Communication workshop, led by actor Brian Palermo. We tackled how to approach communicating your science to general audiences in a completely different way, which was fantastic.
During the week-long conference there was at any given time up to 15 parallel sessions, along with hundreds of poster presentations, which gives an idea of the scale of the conference. It required some careful advance planning to make sure I did not miss any key talks. There were also lots of interesting lunchtime and evening sessions and events. For example, I attended an early-career researchers workshop in which we learnt about different career paths in science, and could put our question to a diverse panel of scientists.
A highlight of the week was of course having the chance to give an oral presentation on my PhD work in the session ‘New Directions in Plankton Ecology’. Presenting was a nerve-wracking experience, but it felt particularly rewarding to have other scientists approach me after my talk to discuss my research further. I also had an opportunity to meet and chat with some renowned research scientists in my field such as Zoe Finkel, who are experts in topics relevant to my work. I networked with researchers who are based at US and Canadian institutes, whom I would not have had the chance to meet with face to face had I not had the fantastic opportunity to attend Aquatic Sciences 2017 – Mahalo Challenger Society!
Profile: Lucie Munns, Third year PhD student at University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre.
My research explores the diversity of photophysiology in Coccolithophores, an important group of phytoplankton, with a view to improving our understanding of the ecology and biogeography of these key algae.
Before starting my PhD studies, I completed a Bachelors’ degree in Natural Science at the University of Cambridge and worked in a medical pathology lab. I then returned to academia to study for an MSc in Oceanography at the University of Southampton, and have not looked back since!
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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