Agata Mystkowska

The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) is an organization gathering scientists devoted to research in limnology or oceanography from all over the world. They organize major scientific meetings in the marine field. This year it took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. The theme of the conference “From the Mountains to the Sea” referred to different aquatic systems on the Earth and their connections. Aquatic researchers from different fields and cultures meet in order to discuss their work, current issues and highlight the importance of science.

ASLO gives awards for the best achievements every year. Among others the founding director of Max Planck Institute in Bremen - Bo Barker Jørgensen, received a prize for his extraordinary career in biogeochemistry. Efforts of Caroline Solomon to overcome inequality in science were highlighted aswell. She connects deaf and hard-of-hearing worlds in science. It was a great opportunity to participate in the talks of laureates.

The aim of my project is to analyze the presence and bacterial degradation of marine carbohydrates, which are either dissolved in the ocean- Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) or create the sinking particles- Particular Organic Matter (POM). There were relevant sessions regarding DOM reactivity, which is the scope of interest for researches from different fields. I had an opportunity to increase my knowledge about POM during the session “Particles as microbial hotspots” led by Astrid Gaerdes. Moreover, I attended an interesting talk of Otto Cordero, who investigates microbial dynamics on different polysaccharide particles.

I presented the poster “Do SusD-like proteins from marine bacteria have potential as probes for glycan analysis?”. I invited a few scientists, whose work is connected to my project. We had a very valuable discussion with Marilou Sison-Mangus, whose interest is bacterial interactions with plankton.

Moreover, there were many interesting workshops. I attended “Science videos that engage” and “Interdisciplinary presentations workshop”, which was led by experienced oceanographer Jonathan Sharp and professional actor Brian Palermo. They showed how to present science in accessible, even entertaining way and how important it is to engage your audience. Moreover, I gained many valuable tips about writing scientific papers during “Scientific publication workshop”.

It was a great opportunity to meet both very accomplished scientists, as well as early career students. I thank GLOMAR for the financial support. Taking part in ASLO conference was a very valuable experience, I recommend that!