MARUM Research Academy

The ICRS is the biggest conference for researchers in the field of coral reef sciences. Hence, I was very excited to give an oral presentation during this event. My presentation was already scheduled for the first day, as the very last presentation before the evening. I got a little bit nervous the closer the time got to my presentation slot, but in the end, it was a great and fun experience talking about the findings of our working group. During the last two years we conducted a series of lab experiments always combining a global and a local factor and observing their effects alone and in combination on the pulsating soft coral Xenia umbellata. The audience posed some interesting questions in the discussion at the end, and it was overall a nice start into the world of visiting international conferences.

The other days I enjoyed listening to the presentation of other students and experts, but especially the keynote talks in the morning and afternoon were great to watch. Having experts like Nancy Knowlton, Raquel Peixoto, and Katharina Fabricius on stage talking about their research and being able to ask them direct question was amazing.

Also, visiting two very interesting workshops about 1) communicating science and 2) research conducted on octocorallia gave me the opportunity to connect with like-minded people and learn a lot about different tools to engage in science communication, as well as broadening my network within the soft coral community.

Besides this, the breaks and evening activities were a great way to connect with people I already knew from earlier research stays, as well as to get to know new people, discuss research ideas, get new inspiration and talk to “big” scientists that I always wanted to meet. Overall, visiting and participating at the ICRS 2022 was a great experience and I can’t wait to go to more international conferences in the future.