Association of Polar Early Career Scientists

 

Online Conference logo 2018 3 no day

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) organized the 4th annual APECS International Online Conference on 16 May 2018. The theme, “Butterfly Effect: Small Changes, Big Impact,” challenged polar scientists to communicate the impacts of changes occurring in and connected to polar and alpine regions, including their environment, local communities, science methods, and policy and education.

Conference Date: 16 May 2018

The Poles are dynamic and complex regions, vulnerable to the effects of climatic and other changes, and inextricably linked to the rest of the globe. The concept of the butterfly effect was originally coined by Edward Lorenz to illustrate how a tornado could be affected by minor changes, such as the flapping of butterfly wings far away and several weeks earlier. This concept also has broader applications. For example, a change in the mid-latitudes can effect changes at the Poles and vice-versa; minute temperature changes can significantly impact local communities or ecosystems; the development of new scientific methods and technologies can generate answers to outstanding questions and open new fields of research; in the wake of shifting global politics, a small alteration to a document can modify treaty impacts and lead to significant consequences; a small act in your community, such as sharing your science at a local school, can inspire and mold future visions for our planet.This year, APECS challenged the scientific community to make an impact by presenting the large and the small of their research ideas, methods, and outcomes: a short presentation in our one-day virtual event can have a significant impact, both on you and the audience of the 4th APECS International Online Conference!

The detailed conference programme including all abstracts can be found below:

APECS International Online Conference 2018 prize winners

Online Conference logo 2018 1The 4th APECS International Online Conference was held on 16th of May 2018. 22 early career researchers presented over 4 sessions than ran over 17 hours to accommodate time zones across the world. This year’s theme was: “Butterfly Effect: Small Changes, Big Impact!.”.

APECS congratulates the three prize winners, all of whom have won funds towards future conference travel:

  • Arctic: Mariama Dryak, Climate Change Institute, Earth and Climate Sciences; University of Maine, “Understanding Ocean Forcing of Polar Glacier Change Using Remotely Sensed Iceberg Melt Data” (Session 3)
  • Antarctic: Amy Kirkham, University of Alaska Fairbanks, “How do hormones and the skin transcriptome influence molt in a polar pinniped?” (Session 4)
  • Innovative Communication: Allison Lee, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, “Antarctic Ambassadors Learning to Love Fjord Phytoplankton” (Session 4)

A very big thank you to our keynote speakers: Nicole Biebow (AWI) and Veronica Willmott (AWI) - Session 1, Margareta Johansson (Lund University) and Sarah Baatout (SCK•CEN) - Session 2, James Overland (NOAA/PMEL) - Session 3.

We are also grateful to all the presenters and volunteers who made the conference possible.

Session 1

Session Chair: Vikram Goel, University of Oslo, Norway/NCAOR, Goa, India; Technical Support: Ilias Bougoudis, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany. The recording of the session is available below. 

APECS Online Conference 2018 - Session 1 from APECS Webinars on Vimeo.

Session 2

Session Chair: Clare Eayrs, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Technical Support: Ilias Bougoudis, Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany. The recording of the session is available below. 

APECS Online Conference 2018 - Session 2 from APECS Webinars on Vimeo.

Session 3

Session Chair: Natalie Freeman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, United States; Technical Support: Deniz Vural, Turkish Students' Polar Research Team-Istanbul Technical University Polar Research Center, Turkey. The recording of the session is available below.

APECS Online Conference 2018 - Session 3 from APECS Webinars on Vimeo.

Session 4

Session Chair: José Queirós, University of Coimbra, Portugal; Technical Support: Jilda Caccavo, The University of Padua, Italy. The recording of the session is available below. 

APECS Online Conference 2018 - Session 4 from APECS Webinars on Vimeo.

Organising Committee

Thank you to the Organising Committee of the APECS Online Conference 2018! In alphabetical order by last name:

  • Julie Bull - Centre for Addiction and Mental Health / University of New Brunswick / University of Toronto - Canada
  • Clare Eayrs - New York University Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
  • Meagan Dewar - Federation University, Deakin University - Australia
  • Natalie Freeman - Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego - United States
  • Yi-Ming Gan - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences - Belgium
  • Amy Kirkham - University of Alaska Fairbanks - United States
  • Kyle Mayers - National Oceanography Centre Southampton / University of Southampton - United Kingdom
  • Swati Nagar - National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research - India
  • Hanne Nielsen - University of Tasmania - Australia
  • Neelu Singh - National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa - India
  • Sara Strey - University of Oklahoma - United States
  • Alex Thornton - University of Alaska Fairbanks - United States
  • José Queirós - University of Coimbra - Portugal

Contact APECS

APECS International Directorate
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Huginbakken 14
9019 Tromsø
Norway
Email: info(at)apecs.is

Our Sponsors

APECS Directorate Sponsor
 
UiTNPIFRAM
 
Further Sponsors and Partners for APECS projects, activities and events