Ocean Sciences 2016: New Orleans
Anna Belcher
NOCS
Ocean Sciences, 2016 in New Orleans was a nonstop week full of great presentations and discussions. As the largest international conference that I have attended (rumours range from 3,000-6,000 attendees!), it was really an amazing experience to be exposed to so much great science! I gave a presentation in the Ocean Carbon Pump session and felt privileged to have had the chance to present amongst such world renowned scientists and I had some really interesting discussions with people after the talk.
Over the week there were a huge number of parallel sessions across a broad range of topics, which after taking a bit of time to figure out exactly which sessions I wanted to attend, really gave me the chance to get up to date with all the exciting new work going on. The spread of talks has really helped me put my work into context within the wider oceanographic setting. There were some really engaging workshops during the week on outreach and public engagement and I have left with some new ideas to pursue and some new contacts to help me develop my own outreach activities.
As a final year PhD student, it was great to be able to get my face out there and make some new contacts from all across the globe. Hopefully this will put me in a much better place for finding a job once I get my thesis finished. I would really like to thank the Challenger Society for providing me with a Travel Award to support my attendance.
Profile:
I am a third (and final) year PhD student at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and my work revolves around the biological carbon pump. I look at the processes controlling the rapid loss of particulate carbon in the upper mesopelagic of the ocean, in particular looking at the roles of bacterial respiration and zooplankton.
Twitter:
A fantastic week packed full of stimulating talks, posters and discussions #lovescience #OSM2016
Latest News
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
REGISTER HERE
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
NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025
The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. The agenda will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join.
To participate, please complete your registration here.
For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk