From Whittard Canyon to Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus: Attending Ocean Sciences Meeting 2026
University of East Anglia
Ocean Sciences Meeting 2026 took place in Glasgow from 22–27 February, bringing together thousands of oceanographers, marine scientists, and industry professionals from around the world. With the support of the Challenger Society Travel Award, I attended the meeting to present my PhD research, expand my scientific knowledge, and build connections within the oceanographic community.
The highlight of the week was the people. The conversations after my talk, catching up with familiar faces, and meeting researchers I hadn’t crossed paths with before. Presenting my work “The Role of Submarine Canyons in Cross-Shelf Exchange: Canyon Dynamics through the Lens of Near-Bed Turbidity in Whittard Canyon” in the dynamics at the sloping boundary session went really well! I had a lot of really good questions afterwards, which as an early career researcher is both gratifying and genuinely useful. There is something particularly encouraging about having your work engaged with seriously, and those post-talk discussions left me with new angles on my research and a stronger sense of not only the wider continental slope science community but also of sedimentology, other applications of internal waves and modelling.
One of the things that made Ocean Sciences special was the sheer scale and variety of the science on offer. The conference ran in a silent disco format in the main speaker hall, with multiple sessions happening simultaneously. This meant you were constantly making choices about where to be. I bounced between quite a few sessions and talks over the week, including those on internal gravity waves and on environmental responses to offshore renewable energy. Some were directly relevant to my research, others I attended simply out of curiosity. What I found particularly interesting was encountering work that touched on familiar themes (sediment dynamics, internal waves, canyon processes) but applied in different settings or with different goals. Seeing how similar science plays out in other contexts is one of the most valuable things a big conference can offer.
The poster sessions were another highlight. It was exciting to see a strong representation of submarine canyon research, with researchers presenting work from canyons around the world. Engaging with those posters gave me useful context for my own work in Whittard Canyon, and several conversations opened potential avenues for comparison and collaboration, the kind of connections that are harder to make outside the conference environment.
The exhibitor hall added another dimension to the week. I had a fascinating conversation with one company about a new technology they are developing and its potential future applications. These talks are a reminder that oceanographic science doesn’t happen in isolation from the companies, instruments and innovations that make it possible. It was also great to see all the new developments in ocean technology and explore their capabilities. On a similar note, attending Rockland Scientific’s mixer and town hall gave me a deeper insight into the practical applications of microstructure profiling. I also attended several careers talks, which offered a broader perspective on navigating life after a PhD, something that feels increasingly relevant as my own research progresses. During the conference it was also great to hear how different people both in academia and industry had ended up in their current positions and the paths they took to get there.
Overall, the meeting was an invaluable experience. It gave me a stronger sense of where my research sits within the wider field, sharpened my thinking through scientific discussion, and left me with a network of contacts and ideas to carry forward into the next stages of my PhD and career. I am grateful to the Challenger Society for making this possible.
Awardee Profile:
Eilean is a PhD student at the University of East Anglia, specialising in submarine canyon dynamics and cross-shelf exchange. Her research focuses on Whittard Canyon, investigating near-bed turbidity as a lens through which to understand sediment transport, turbidity currents and internal waves. With a background in physical oceanography, Eilean is committed to advancing understanding into the processes that link shelf seas with the deep ocean, and to contributing to the growing knowledge on canyon systems worldwide.
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