6th International Jellyfish Bloom Symposium
Nathan Hugot
University of Southampton
The International Jellyfish Bloom Symposium is the most important conference for the global jellyfish research community, and occurs every 3 years in a different continent. This year the Symposium was held in Cape Town, South Africa. The Opening ceremony and the Symposium dinner were hosted at the beautiful “Two oceans aquarium” were many species of jellyfish were displayed. The Symposium itself was hosted at the Iziko South African Museum where more than one and a half million specimens of scientific importance are kept and displayed. Together, more than a hundred of researchers and students presented talks and posters in a variety of fields, going from how to use new tools to detect and/or predict jellyfish blooms, to the use of jellyfish in medicine, biotechnology and even gastronomy. I was part of the conveners for the session on “The role of jellyfish in the ecosystem: from predator-prey interactions to biogeochemical cycling” and I introduced the session with a 5 minute talk. Later on, I presented my presentation: “Evidence of nitrification associated with jellyfish”. We concluded the session on the importance of shifting the commonly used narrative from “jellyfish are a nuisance for ecosystems and humans” towards “Jellyfish can also play important ecological roles and provide valuable services to human societies”. After 3 days of presentations, a bit of time was used to raise and discuss the future objectives of the jellyfish research community. At the same time, India was selected as the next host for the Symposium in 3 years. Overall, the symposium allowed me to realize and learn about the diversity of research undergone in the jellyfish community. It was a great opportunity to meet and network with the scientists who are the authors of the majority of the paper I read. I had good feedbacks and interesting suggestions on my work. I identified and made contact with the researchers who are working on similar topics as mine. I believe that my presence at this Symposium will lead to future collaborations and I am looking forward to being part of the 7th International Jellyfish Bloom Symposium being hold in India in 2022.
Mr Nathan Hubot is a postgraduate research student within Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton. After a Bachelor in Bioengineering at the Free University of Brussels (Belgium), he did a Master in Marine Biology. Since then, he has been working as a research intern in the Huinay Scientific Field Station in the Chilean Patagonia and as Science Officer in the Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project in the Philippines. Now, he is investigating the role of Jellyfish in the Biological Carbon Pump at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton.
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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