The 3rd Annual INTERCOAST Workshop took place in Bremen, Germany from June 16-23 2012

The much anticipated annual INTERCOAST workshop was successfully held from June 16 – June 23, 2012, at the MARUM Institute of University of Bremen in Germany. The annual IC workshops provide an opportunity for project leaders (supervisors) and PhD students alike to come together to reflect on past, present, and future research in the framework of the INTERCOAST programme.

This 3rd annual workshop represented the final workshop for the first cohort of University of Bremen IC PhD students, who are now entering the home stretch of their projects aiming for completion around the end of 2012. Students from this group presented the results from their latest work, which resembled the beginnings of final conclusions and foreshadowed their completed works to come! Supervisors from Germany and New Zealand listened as the first cohort showed off the knowledge they have gained over the past 2.5 years proving to all attendees that they have the ability to become successful young working scientists who can make meaningful contributions to the international body of knowledge across a range of different disciplines.

For the first cohort of University of Waikato IC PhD students, this was the 2nd workshop and as such, there were many presentations showing preliminary results from recent field and laboratory studies, and descriptions of attempts at the fine-tuning of research methods. All students showed great promise, and expectations are high for the work that will be presented at their 3rd and final workshop next year in New Zealand!

Thesis committee meetings are also an important part of the IC workshops. Time is always scheduled so that each student can sit down with their Bremen and Waikato supervisors to discuss their progress and upcoming plans. This is a crucial activity as it is far more efficient to discuss these things face to face rather than via email!

Throughout the week, the audience had the chance to benefit from keynote lectures by Drs. Julia Mullarney, Mark Hadfield, Lars Brabyn, and Simon Thrush that provided recent findings in the fields of biological, oceanographic, geographic studies. Additionally, a special evening lecture was given by Professor Chris Battershill on the current events and environmental implications of the grounding of the container ship MV Rena off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand at the Astrolabe Reef.

The icing on the cake came in the form of a field trip on the last two days of the workshop, planned and led by project leader Alex Bartholomä. The first stop was to the East Frisian Island of Spiekeroog, where discussions on the geomorphic evolution of the island were interspersed with intermittent and spectacular thunder and lightning storms. Later, participants boarded the ferry to return to the mainland, where they then were treated to what was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for a scenic aerial tour of the East Frisian Islands aboard a 10 seater ‘puddle jumper’ sponsored by the Senckenberg Institute. The views were breath-taking and allowed for a rare perspective on the variety of coastal geomorphologic landforms that most people only read about in texts books!

Day 2 of the field trip took advantage of the Ems Estuary, which is dominated by two important landmarks: the Emsperrwerk (Ems storm surge barrier) and the Meyer Werft ship building facility upstream at Papenburg. Tours and explanations of both facilities led to some animated interdisciplinary discussions on the costs and benefits of the presence of the two anthropogenic additions to the estuary, and as in the political and societal sphere, consensus on the matter was difficult to come by. However, by now, the students are well-versed in communicating their viewpoints effectively while thoughtfully considering those expressed by their colleagues. All in all, the field trip was filled with experiences that the participants won’t soon forget!

This year’s IC workshop was a great success with progress logged in leaps and bounds. Students communicated their work effectively while honing their skills in the art of interdisciplinary communication. Supervisors led by example and produced a treasure trove of ideas for the future stages of the INTERCOAST programme that aim to combine aspects of the German Wadden Sea and coast with the seas and coastlines of New Zealand. Most importantly, professional and personal bonds were formed and strengthened, which are the foundation for an ongoing and successful collaboration between the University of Bremen and the University of Waikato and the INTERCOAST graduate programme.