The 2nd BIOPOLE Annual Science Meeting took place from the 6th to the 8th of March 2024 at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge and online. BIOPOLE Project Members, Early Career Researchers (ECRs), Members of the Programme Advisory Board (PAB), Science and Strategic Partners were invited to participate. Around 50 in-person and 13 virtual participants attended the hybrid BIOPOLE Annual Science Meeting.
The meeting spanned through three days and was filled with fruitful discussions, great scientific talks, exciting presentations, interesting keynotes and much more. All sessions were chaired by BIOPOLE Early Career Researchers (ECRs).
The first day kicked off with the project overview and work package presentations, where all four BIOPOLE work packages (WPs) (WP1 – Inputs, WP2 – Processes, WP3 – Impacts, WP4 – Management) presented the progress of work.
The poster session followed. After the poster session, quick-fire talks took place, after which we had a discussion.
The second day started with the ECRs’ breakfast. After the breakfast, Guang Yang delivered a keynote on ‘Zooplankton mediated carbon pumps’.
Next, we learned about the major BIOPOLE fieldwork efforts in Arctic (Arctic ships), Ny Alesund, and Southern Ocean (BIOPOLE Cruise I).
Presentations on data management, the Decade Collaborative Centre for the Southern Ocean Region (DCC-SOR), and Arctic policy were delivered, along with updates from the ECRs.
We then had four breakout sessions before lunch and four afterward. After the breakout session, Katrin Linse delivered a keynote on ‘Benthic elements of BIOPOLE’. We closed the day with the Executive Board and Programme Advisory Board meeting.
The third and the last day of the meeting started with the ECR-led session on the ‘Imposter syndrome: taming your inner critic’. Following that, we heard the rapporteurs’ reports from the breakout sessions and engaged in a discussion. Further, the PAB delivered an insightful report for the project. Before we concluded the meeting, we had a couple of discussion sessions on ‘Interaction with partners and within the project to achieve key BIOPOLE objectives in Arctic and Antarctic’ as well as ‘BIOPOLE into the future and lessons learned’.
We would like to express our gratitude to every single individual for their work in BIOPOLE and for their participation in the meeting be it in-person or virtual.
The author of the article – Ruta Hamilton (British Antarctic Survey)
