The Challenger Society for Marine Science held its biennial conference in Oban, Scotland, on 2-6 September 2024. This meeting, which is mainly attended by scientists from the UK, also included visitors from elsewhere in Europe and a few from farther afield, in addition to manufacturers and distributors of scientific instrumentation. All fields of marine science were represented, with the Southern Ocean featuring prominently in the session on multi-scale ocean dynamics: Southern Hemisphere, as well as the session on nutrient cycling from the tropics to the poles. Here we saw results from other EU projects such as SO-CHIC, associated projects such as the NERC-funded BIOPOLE programme, and work contributing directly to OCEAN:ICE’s Workpackage 5 on icesheet impacts on global ocean circulation. The main conference was followed by workshops from the Challenger Society’s special interest groups on ocean modelling and marine biochemistry. A workshop with open discussion on the future of the UK’s marine research infrastructure was also held during the conference, as was a public event on making fishing more sustainable.
Although the Scottish weather can be unpredictable in autumn, the spectacular surroundings on the west coast of Scotland showed themselves at their best on the last days of the conference, with views of the Inner Hebrides emerging across the busy harbour.
The conference concluded with a conference dinner and cèilidh, with participants trying their hand at Scottish dancing to live music! We thank the local organising committee at the Scottish Association for Marine Science for a successful and enjoyable conference and look forward to meeting again in two years, in a location yet to be confirmed.
The author of the article – Povl Abrahamsen (BAS)