Astrid Contreras Rosales

Thanks to the support of GLOMAR, I was able to attend the 26th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG 2013), which gathered the world’s elite of senior and junior scientists in the field of organic geochemistry, comprising about 500 participants from all over the world. The aim of the conference was the presentation and discussion of organic geochemical tools for the solution of questions in diverse fields of application, including both science and industry.

The theme of my poster, entitled “Late Quaternary history of the East-Indian monsoon evolution: evidence from sedimentary organic matter”, was focused on the use of higher-plant biomarkers and amino acids as proxies for the Asian monsoon variability over glacial/interglacial time scales. During the course conference it was very interesting and motivating to meet and discuss with several prestigious senior scientists specialized on plant wax biomarkers, very often at the top of my list of references, and discover that they deal with similar issues and shortcomings as I do at the moment. Formal and informal chats with some of these highly recognized researchers derived on valuable suggestions and insights to my current work. Also very motivating was to meet other young and very enthusiastic PhDs and post docs working with similar themes or study areas and with whom I got to exchange many fresh ideas and discuss different approaches to tackle similar research questions. Furthermore, I greatly enjoyed meeting other scientists working on completely different topics and from whom I learned alternative professional paths and options in the field of organic geochemistry. Within the frame of the conference, I was also able to attend the short course entitled “Advances and applications of stable isotopes in organic geochemistry” presented by six leading scientists in the organic geochemistry community which made it a very stimulating learning experience.

Finally, what I enjoyed the most about this conference was the atmosphere of a well established community in which casual interactions between the members were promoted repeatedly through various social activities organized parallel to the conference. These social activities much facilitated the approach between the young members of the scientific community and the well recognized senior scientists in a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere in which at the same time that you have a nice time you also work on the expansion of your professional contact network.

Thank you very much to GLOMAR for supporting me on this unforgettable international conference first experience.