Programme

 8:30       Registration

 9:00       Welcome to the VMSD
               Jan Mees, General Director of VLIZ

 9:05       25 years of VLIZ
               Carl Decaluwé, Governor of West Flanders, President of VLIZ

 9:15       Keynote presentation
               Fiona Grant, Head of International Programmes at Marine Institute, Chair of the European Marine Board 

 9:45       Predoc presentations

  • Digital Twins: Promoting sustainable tourism and monitoring of marine environment
    Nikhil Thomas, Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute
  • Do melting glaciers impact carbon burial in Greenlandic fjords?
    Marius Buydens, Ghent University
  • Optimizing ZooScan measurements: A study on Copepod length and volume estimations in the Belgian part of the North Sea
    Jonas Mortelmans, Flanders Marine Institute
  • Stress and heartache: Heart morphology deviation and energy resource exhaustion induced by chronic stress impaired the swimming performance of Atlantic salmon
    April Grace Opinion, University of Antwerp
  • Unravelling the dinner menu: First comparative study on natural food composition of juvenile Scylla olivacea and Scylla tranquebarica with Oxford Nanopore Technology sequencing reveals trophic niche difference
    Arida Fauziyah, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

10:15      Coffee break + interactive sessions + poster session

11:10       Predoc presentations

  • A food web model of the Southern Bight of the North Sea: Historical dynamics (1991–2022) to support ecosystem-based management
    Steven Pint, Flanders Marine Institute
  • Assessing morpho-sedimentary and benthic recovery dynamics after intensive aggregate extraction on tidal sandbanks
    Lucía López López, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture Fisheries and Food
  • Assessing the hydrodynamic impacts and carbon deposition pattern associated with floating solar structures within a Belgian offshore wind farm
    Pauline Denis, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
  • Ecological implications of ocean alkalinity enhancement with olivine: Nickel release and bioaccumulation in Arenicola marina
    Benjamin Van Heurck, University of Antwerp
  • Explosive legacies: Revealing wartime TNT pollution in the North Sea through bacterial indicators
    Wyona Schütte, Flanders Marine Institute
  • Integrating climatic controls and dispersal to project mangrove dynamics at a rapidly-changing range limit
    Lucia Enes Gramoso, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  • Methane saturation in the west Antarctic Peninsula
    Axelle Brusselman, University of Liège
  • Plastic pellet pollution on the Scheldt riverbank: A case study along the Scheldt estuary between Vlissingen (Netherlands) and Melle (Belgium)
    Hanne Diels, University of Antwerp
  • Warming alters reproductive investment in Northeast Atlantic sole (Solea solea) populations: Small fish thrive, large fish compromise
    Tuan Anh Bui, Ghent University
  • Wired waters – investigating overlooked impacts of submarine power cables on marine life
    Lotte Pohl, Flanders Marine Institute 

12:05      Trailer "De Wilde Noordzee" (The Wild North Sea)

12:10       Lunch break + interactive sessions + poster session

13:20       Keynote presentation
                Alain Arnaud, Lead of the Mercator Digital Ocean department

13:50       Predoc presentations

  • Examining spatial and temporal dynamics of pCO2 in the North Sea using ocean color satellite data
    Andrea Van Langen Rosón, Flanders Marine Institute
  • Going with the flow: Trait-dependent dispersal in coastal wetlands
    Laura Bossaer, University of Antwerp
  • High-resolution coastal carbon dynamics: Addressing knowledge gaps in the Belgian part of the North Sea
    Maurie Keppens, Flanders Marine Institute
  • To blend or to stand out: Pigmentation changes in coral symbionts under environmental stress
    Lisa Mussoi, University of Mons
  • Oxygen: Broadcasting live from inside a copepod gut
    Bram Martin, Ghent University 

14:20       Interviews with Brilliant Marine Research Idea grant winners      

15:00       Coffee break + interactive sessions + poster session

16:00      Award ceremony & VLIZ 25th anniversary

  • The sea on prescription: Investigating the link between sea spray aerosols and human health benefits (Dr Delcroix Incentive Award)
    Silke Lambert, Ghent University
  • Exploring preventive health strategies: The role of coastal environments in the physical and cognitive well-being of older adults (Dr Delcroix Incentive Award)
    Julia Kinet, Flanders Marine Institute
     
  • Award ceremony
    • Brilliant Marine Research Idea grants
    • Dr Edouard Delcroix Incentive Awards
    • Best poster & best presentation award
       
  • VLIZ 25th anniversary
    • Colin Janssen, Vice-president of VLIZ, on behalf of President Carl Decaluwé
    • Jan Mees, General Director of VLIZ
    • Johan Hanssens, Secretary-General of Flanders Department of Work, Economy, Science, Innovation & Social Economy 

17:00       Reception (until 18:30)