Eldo Roza
Report of GLOMAR PhD student Eldo Roza about his participation in the "International Conference for YOUNG Marine Researchers (ICYMARE)" in Oldenburg, Germany from 18 to 22 September 2023
On the 18th - 22nd of September 2023, I participated in the fifth edition of ICYMARE (International Conference for Young MArine REsearchers), which was hosted by the ICBM (Institut für Chemie und Biologie des Meeres) in Oldenburg. This conference offered a friendly environment for early career researchers to share and discuss their projects across multiple topics in marine research. It was my first time to be at this conference and I fully admit that it was a unique experience. This event was kicked off with the ICY-breaker session on Monday evening at the State Museum of Human and Nature where I met friends and colleagues especially those whom I had not met in a few years. The event was officialized by the head of organizer and the participants were set to play a “human bingo” game that encouraged all of us to get to know each other.
The first day of the science session began with a plenary talk “Fantastic Mentors and Where to Find Them” on Tuesday morning at the ICBM building. The plenary session was brilliant and encouraging and prepared participants with many upcoming interesting presentations in parallel sessions from fellow young researchers. After the lunch break, the conference provided a sharing session called “round table” where all could share their story and ask questions regarding the assigned themes that were different each day (e.g., toxic working environment and mental health). Fortunately, I had the opportunity to present the third topic of my doctoral project on the second conference day hosted by my colleague at MARUM. I presented a comparison study between the dinoflagellate cysts production from the upper water column with their embedded remains in the sea floor. It was a challenging task for me since I had to formulate my talk in a way that audiences from different scientific backgrounds could understand. I received some feedback from fellow participants during the question session and later on when we were in the poster session. I was happy because that was my main motivation to attend a conference with a multidisciplinary topic.
On the following days, the morning session was always opened by other inspiring topics of the plenary talk. It was followed by presentations from fellow participants delivering their studies in ecology, chemistry, data science, and even marine governance and conservation which all I found very interesting. On Thursday, the afternoon session was filled with several workshops including a visit to the State Museum of Human and Nature. As a big fan of Natural and History Museums, I signed up for it and I learned about the history of peat in Lower Saxony from the perspective of natural science, social, and economic aspects. I also enjoyed other exhibitions for instance skeletons and fossils of animals, the geology of Oldenburg and the surrounding area, and artefacts from the Roman time. After that, I paid a short visit to the city center where the infamous Oldenburg Palace is located. On Friday, the presentation session continued until early afternoon and the conference was closed with more games and many exciting announcements. ICYMARE 2023 was wrapped up with an after-party event that sadly I could not join, but I enjoyed everything that happened during this event. I would like to thank the organizing committee for making such an interesting conference that also felt like a team gathering.
I want to thank MARUM, my supervisor, and all collaborators for allowing me to produce such an amazing project so I can present it in an International meeting like ICYMARE. I also thank GLOMAR for accommodating this media for me to pass on my experience hoping that this brief report can be informative and motivate fellow young researchers.
