MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands outstands at Young Marine Researchers international conference in Germany

The group of participants at ICYMARE, ‘International Conference for Young Marine Researchers’ in Bremerhaven, Germany. Most attendees were fellow PhD students.

By Amy Guest, SAERI PhD and University of Aberdeen student - During the second week of September (9-12th), I attended ICYMARE, the ‘International Conference for Young Marine Researchers’ in Bremerhaven, Germany. Most attendees were fellow PhD students, although there was also a mix of master’s and Undergraduate students.

Back in April, I applied for the ICYMARE International Travel Grant to help with the cost of attending the four-day conference. I didn’t expect to be chosen as the grant process is very competitive, so I feel very lucky to have been an awardee.

Conferences are a valuable part of scientific research. They allow you to share your work to a captive audience, listen to relevant talks, and connect with people working in similar fields.

For PhD students especially, they can be places where you meet future research collaborators or even cross paths with future employers. However, attending conferences in your subject area isn’t always logistically easy, or affordable, particularly when you live in a remote place!

On day two of the conference, I gave a short presentation on my PhD chapter about eroded peat in the shallow marine environment on Hummock Island, which I hope to publish more about in the coming months.

The data was gathered during a 2021 expedition with the Shallow Marine Surveys Group, with thanks to the Antarctic Research Trust for their invitation. My talk seemed well received. Most of the post-presentation questions were from people curious about the Falklands more generally.

The majority of the attendees I spoke to had never heard of the Falkland Islands, so I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to briefly introduce the Islands to over 200 up-and-coming marine scientists from over 35 countries.

Besides attending the talks, I also went to a poster session, attended discussion groups and also a publishing workshop with Open-Access publisher ‘Frontiers in Marine Science’. ICYMARE was a welcoming and supportive atmosphere, particularly for a first international conference experience.

Huge thanks to the travel grant sponsors at ICYMARE for the opportunity, and in general to my project sponsors, the CDS fund, the John Cheek Trust, RBC Ltd, and the Shackleton Scholarship Fund.