PROGRAMME - EDITION 2018

08:30-09:00
Registration | Welcome coffee/tea | Mounting of posters

09:00 – 09:05
Welcome address
Jan Mees (VLIZ)

09:05 – 09:30
Towards a better understanding of our marine environment: of habitats, maps and engineering
Veerle Huvenne (NOC, United Kingdom)

09:30 – 10:20
Pitch presentations: pre-doc level

  • Analysis of the power output and the far-field effects of a 50-WEC farm using a novel coupling technique
    Philip Balitsky (UGent-CERG)
    [abstract]
  • The effect of connectivity on productivity and diversity in micro-algae communities
    Jonathan De Raedt (UGent-GhEnToxLab)
    [abstract]
  • Prize papers as new sources for maritime historical research: the circulation of knowledge on the sea
    Wim De Winter (VLIZ)
    [abstract]
  • The geochemical behaviour of trace metals in the surface water of the Belgian Coastal Zone
    Camille Gaulier (VUB-AMGC)
    [abstract]
  • Reef health influences self-recruitment in a meta-population of Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion akallopisos) in the Indian Ocean connected through larval dispersal
    Filip Huyghe (VUB-Marine Biology)
    [abstract]
  • Have plasticizers already reached our marine environment?
    Steve Huysman (UGent-LCA)
    [abstract]
  • Towards an improved numerical modelling methodology for wave overtopping on a dike with a very shallow foreshore
    Vincent Gruwez (UGent-AWW)
    [abstract]
  • Investigating life history toxicity in the copepod Nitocra spinipes by means of a Dynamic Energy Budget model
    Josef Koch (UGent-GhEnToxLab)
    [abstract]
  • Does a possibility exist to optimize the fatty acid composition of FAME’s in order to decrease the concentration of NOx and PM in the exhaust gas composition?
    Rafael Maes (HZS)
    [abstract]
  • Food web structure of fouling communities along the ecological zonation of artificial hard substrates in a North Sea offshore wind farm
    Ninon Mavraki (RBINS-OD Nature)
    [abstract]

10:20 – 10:35
Elevator pitch presentations (part 1)

Meet The Company: DEME - Frank Verschraegen (DEME)
Meet The Company: ILVO - Sofie Vandendriessche (ILVO)
Meet The Company: Vacancies@VLIZ - Tina Mertens (VLIZ)
Demo: VLIZ Marine Library - Heike Lust (VLIZ)
Demo: Compendium for Coast and Sea - Steven Dauwe (VLIZ)
Demo: VLIZ Research Infrastructure - André Cattrijsse (VLIZ)
Demo: Maritime research with a green nod at Antwerp Maritime Academy - Geert Potters (HZS)
Demo: JPI Oceans - The Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans - Willem De Moor (JPI Oceans)
Demo: VLIZ and social media - Bart De Smet (VLIZ)
Demo: Knock knock, who’s there? - Jan Reubens (VLIZ)
Demo: Building an online and interactive scientific data explorer for LifeWatch observatory data - Stefanie Dekeyzer (VLIZ)
Demo: Arduino in Marine Sciences: Building and controlling sensors for marine research projects - Tim Deprez (UGent-MARBIOL)
Demo: VITO remote sensing - Els Knaeps (VITO)

10:35 – 11:20
Coffee break | Demo and poster session

11:20 – 12:10
Pitch presentations: pre-doc level (10)

  • Spatio-temporal variation in contribution of biodiversity and environment to benthic ecosystem functioning in the Scheldt estuary
    Sebastiaan Mestdagh (UGent-MARBIOL)
    [abstract]
  • Ecotoxicity testing of environmentally realistic contaminant mixtures using passive samplers: What can we learn from repeating toxicity tests over an extended period of time?
    Samuel Moeris (UGent-GhEnToxLab)
    [abstract]
  • The impact of decades of human-induced environmental change on phytoplankton communities in the Belgian part of the North Sea
    Anja Nohe (UGent-PAE)
    [abstract]
  • Wave impacts on storm walls: Large scale experiments in the Delta flume
    Maximilian Streicher (UGent-CERG)
    [abstract]
  • Dynamic sand: Towards a resilient Belgian coast
    Glenn Strypsteen (KU Leuven-BWK)
    [abstract]
  • The BIO-Tide project: The role of microbial biodiversity in the functioning of marine tidal flat sediments
    Willem Stock (UGent-PAE)
    [abstract] (no audio)
  • The evolution of burrowing fauna triggered a low-oxygen ocean and global warming
    Sebastiaan Van De Velde (VUB-AMGC)
    [abstract]
  • Seabird displacement at offshore wind farms: Effect versus impact
    Nicolas Vanermen (INBO)
    [abstract]
  • Development of an innovative two-chamber skin explant model for marine fish
    Maaike Vercauteren (UGent-Pathology, bacteriology and poultry diseases)
    [abstract]
  • Habitat suitability modelling of macroalgae with a mechanistic approach
    George Westmeijer (VLIZ)
    [abstract]

12:10 – 12:25
Elevator pitch presentations (part 2)

Demo: ScheldeMonitor, the online data and information hub for the Scheldt Estuary - Lennert Tyberghein (VLIZ)
Demo: MarineTraining.eu: Towards tomorrow's new blue challenges in Europe’s Marine and Maritime education landscape - Thibaud Mascart (UGent-MARBIOL)
Demo: From sample to library: The ZooSCAN pathway unraveled - Jonas Mortelmans (VLIZ)
Demo: VLIZ Philanthropy - Karen Rappé (VLIZ)
Demo: EMODnet: your gateway to marine data in Europe - Lennert Schepers (VLIZ)
Demo: World Register of Marine Species - Thomas Lanssens (VLIZ)
Informative poster: BCCM/DCG - The reliable source and destination for all your microalgae - Peter Chaerle (UGent-BCCM/DCG) 
Informative poster: European Marine Board - Angèl Muñiz Piniella (European Marine Board)
Informative poster: New RV: A new multidiscilinary research vessel to replace the RV A962 Belgica  - Lieven Naudts (OD Nature- RBINS)
Informative poster: MarineRegions.org: A world reference for Maritime Boundaries - Lennert Schepers (VLIZ)
Informative poster: MSc in Marine and Lacustrine Science and Management - Karolien Van Puyvelde (VUB-Oceans&Lakes)
Informative poster: ASSEMBLE-Plus: Promoting access to the EMBRC marine station and laboratories - Tim Verstraeten (UGent-MARBIOL)
Informative poster: Join the International Master of Science in marine Biological Resources (IMBRSea) today! - Tim Deprez (UGent-IMBRSea)

12:25 – 13:25
Sandwich & soup lunch | Demo and poster session

13:25 – 13:30
Introduction to the afternoon programme
Jan Mees (VLIZ)

13:30 – 13:55
Pitch presentations: post-doc level (5)

  • A novel approach to model 4 decades of marine chemical data
    Bavo De Witte (ILVO)
    [abstract]
  • Foraging distribution, habitat preferences and diet of Antarctic petrels, cape petrels and southern fulmars – Inter-specific overlap as a consequence of high environmental variability?
    Nina Dehnhard (UA-Biology)
    [abstract]
  • Are we approaching MSY in 2020? Focus on commercial fish stocks important to Belgian fisheries
    Sofie Nimmegeers (ILVO)
    [abstract]
  • Ecological effects of marine protected ares: The case of seagrass macrofaunal assemblages
    Nicolas Sturaro (ULiège-Océanologie)
    [abstract]
     
  • Hope for recovery of the soft-bottom ecosystem after cessation of fishery disturbance?
    Gert Van Hoey (ILVO)
    [abstract]

13:55 – 14:40
The VLIZ Research Strategy and the Science Agenda for Flanders
Jan Mees & Michiel Vandegehuchte (VLIZ)
[abstract]

14:40 – 15:40
Coffee break | Demo and poster session | Meet the Company | Networking

15:40 – 16:00
Presentations by the winners of the Brilliant Marine Research Ideas 2017 (4)

  • Who are the cable bacteria?
    Laurine Burdorf (UA-ECOBE)
    [abstract]
  • Ancient marine metabarcoding: A new approach of stomach and microbiome analysis for historical fish
    Franz Maximilian Heindler (KU Leuven-LBEG)
    [abstract]
     
  • Development of a test platform for anti-fouling coatings
    Raf Meskens (HZS)
    [abstract]
     
  • Do marine aerosols improve human health?
    Emmanuel Van Acker (UGent-GhEnToxLab)
    [abstract]

16:00 – 16:05
Presentation by the winner of the VLIZ Communication Award 2017

  • Drowned landscapes of the Belgian Continental Shelf
    Maikel De Clercq (UGent-RCMG)
    [abstract] [animation]

16:05 – 16:15
Presentations by the winners of the VLIZ Master Thesis Awards 2017

  • Potential human health effects of phycotoxins in marine bioaerosols
    Emily Lodewijks (UGent-GhEnToxLab)
    [abstract]
  • Roman salt production in the civitas Menapiorum – A study of the implemented technological process on the salt production sites through the analysis of the briquetage from the region Zeebrugge-Dudzele
    Michiel Dekoninck (UGent-ARCHAEO)
    [abstract]

16:15 – 16:25
Presentation by the winner of the VLIZ North Sea Award 2017

  • Pacific oysters and parasites: Species invasions and their impact on parasite-host interactions
    M. Anouk Goedknegt (NIOZ, The Netherlands)
    [abstract]

16:25 – 16:45
Official presentation of the awards:

VLIZ Master Thesis Awards 2017 (2)
VLIZ North Sea Award 2017
VLIZ Communication Award 2018
VLIZ Philanthropy Brilliant Marine Research Ideas 2018 (2)
Best pre-doc presentation (by the public)
Best post-doc presentation (by the public)
Best poster (by the public and a professional jury)

16:45 – 18:45
Network reception