Gordon Research Conference on Ocean Biogeochemistry
Hong Kong University of Sciences and Technology – July 8 to 13, 2018
Summary Report*
Louis Legendre (France) and Sylvia Sander (Monaco), Chairs
Chuanlun Zhang (China) and Susanne Neuer (USA), Vice Chairs
Location, dates, and program: The second Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Ocean Biogeochemistry was held at the excellent conference facilities of the Hong Kong University of Sciences and Technology (HKUST), from July 8 to 13, 2018. The topic of the 2018 conference was Biogeochemistry of Marine Interfaces
The program included: nine morning and evening oral sessions, each led by a Discussion Leader, during which each of the 27 invited presentations was followed by a long discussion period; three afternoon poster sessions, contributed by 72 participants; a Power Hour led by two participants, to discuss challenges women face in science; and afternoon free time periods and excursions and evening post-session receptions that favored networking among participants. The GRC approach of sharing all (very good) meals contributed to the networking.
Participants: The 129 conferees and 4 accompanying persons were from: Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR China, Israel, Japan, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam (see map).
The 129 conferees comprised 54 women and 75 men, and 76 established and 53 early-career scientists. This combination of participants from a wide geographic diversity and different career status led to very fruitful scientific exchanges and highly successful networking.
Supporting organizations: We thank very much the following organizations for their financial support (alphabetical order): Croucher Foundation (Hong Kong), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Gordon Research Conferences, Innovation & Technology Commission in Hong Kong, KC Wong Education Foundation, Qingdao Yuehai Blue Sky Fisheries Limited (China), Shandong University (China), and Xiamen University (China). We also thank the five speakers and discussion leaders who contributed their travel expenses to the financial
support of the conference.
We are grateful to the Nature Travel Grants program and the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry project (USA) for their direct support of the registration fees and travel expenses of early-career participants from a developing country and the USA, respectively.
The above financial contributions allowed supporting, in part or totally, the participation of 23 early-career scientists from China, Hong Kong SAR China, Morocco, Russia, Tunisia, South Africa, the USA, and Vietnam.
We finally thank the HKUST Coastal Marine Laboratory for organizing, on two afternoons, very interesting visits of their on-campus facility, for the participants in the conference.
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* This brief Summary Report is not an official document from the Gordon Research Conferences. The Chairs and Vice Chairs of the 2018 GRC on Ocean Biogeochemistry prepared this document for the information of the organizations and people who contributed to the success of the conference.
