8:30 Registration
9:00 Welcome to the VLIZ Marine Science Day
Jan Mees, general director VLIZ
Carl Decaluwé, governor Province West Flanders, president VLIZ
9:10 Keynote presentation
Joanna Post, director GOOS, head of the IOC Ocean Observations & Services Section
9:40 Predoc presentations
- Sediment Organic Carbon Accumulation Rates in a Tidal Marsh Reach Their Maximum Within the First Two Decades of Growth
Faras Abassi, Antwerp University - Winners and Losers in a Warming Southern North Sea Food Web
Dries Lorré, Ghent University - A 10-Year Time Series Analysis of Plankton in the Belgian Part of the North Sea
Annika Eske, Ghent University, VLIZ - Detecting Fish Biodiversity and Emerging Taxa in the Belgian North Sea: The Critical Role of Curated Reference Databases in eDNA Metabarcoding
Delphine Tanghe, ILVO
10:05 Introduction to the interactive sessions
Ann-Katrien Lescrauwaet, director international relations VLIZ
10:15 Coffee break - Interactive sessions - Poster session
11:20 Predoc presentations
- Maritime Boundaries in Motion: From Visserijblad to Marine Regions
Britt Lonneville & Fons Verheyde, VLIZ - Supporting the Transition to Low-Impact Fisheries
Jasper Van Vlasselaer, ILVO - Uncoating the Problem: Leachates from Coatings Affect Estuarine Copepods Under Climate Change Scenarios
Juliette Grandjean, Ghent University, VLIZ - The Nasal Microbiome as Exposome Biomarker in Belgian Coastal and Inland Inhabitants
Silke Lambert, Ghent University - Worth the Gamble? Tourism and the Embeddedness of Gambling in Seaside Resorts: The Case of Ostend at the Belgian Coast (1878–1930)
Evert Lambrechts, Antwerp University, VLIZ - Physiological, Psychological and Cognitive Effects of Coastal versus Urban Environments in Older Adults: A Cross-Over Field Study
Julia Kinet, Ghent University, VLIZ - Extraction Residue From Brown Seaweed Fucus vesiculosus as Potential Pesticide With Antifungal Properties
Carlotta Minardi, KU Leuven - Evaluating Substrate Suitability for Larval Settlement of the Tube-Building Polychaete Lanice conchilega in Relation to Hydrodynamic Modification
Mazharul Islam, Ghent University, ILVO - Artisanal Seaweed Farming in Kenya: Value Chain Assessments and Community Livelihoods
Gladys Mwaka Holeh, Ghent University, VLIZ - Reading the Seabed: What Sandbank Morphology Reveals About Sediment Scarcity
Victoria Heckmann, Ghent University, Institute of Natural Sciences
12:20 Lunch break - Interactive sessions
13:30 Keynote presentation
Piet Opstaele, CEO Blue Cluster
14:00 Predoc presentations
- Marine Heatwaves Drive Seasonal Extremes in Air–Sea CO₂ Fluxes in the Belgian North Sea through Amplified Winter Sinks and Summer Sources
Maurie Keppens, Ghent University, VLIZ - Wind Farms and Food Webs: 14 Years of Marine Change
Abril Reynes Cardona, Ghent University, Institute of Natural Sciences - Advancing Marine Chemical Monitoring: Hazard Based Selection of Contaminants of Emerging Concern Using the CONTRAST Prioritisation Tool
Putu Yolanda Yulikayani, Ghent University, ILVO - Harbour Porpoise Distribution near Operational Offshore Windfarms: A Passive Acoustic Monitoring Approach
Annelore Van Nieuwenhove, Institute of Natural Sciences - Role of Benthic Fauna Functional Traits in Iron Cycling in Two Icelandic Fjords
Cathrin Wittig, Ghent University
14:30 Interviews with last year's Brilliant Marine Research Idea grant winners
15:10 Group picture
15:15 Coffee break - Interactive sessions
16:15 Award presentations
- Yessotoxins as anticancer agents due to their lysosome targeting: A comparative study in cancerous and non-cancerous human alveolar epithelial cell lines
Friedel Dewulf, Ghent University - Last year's winner of the Dr Delcroix Research Grant - Affect, Awe and Connectedness to the Environment in Different Coastal Areas: An Immersive Video Experiment
Elias De Craene, Ghent University - KU Leuven - VLIZ - Developing and Optimizing a Cost- and Time-effective Method for the Detection and Identification of Microplastics in the Marine Environment
Nelle Meyers, Ghent University, VLIZ - Winner of the North Sea Award - Integrating climatic controls and dispersal to project mangrove dynamics at a rapidly-changing range limit
Lucia Enes Gramoso, VUB - Winner of the Master Thesis Award (climate category) - Comparison of in-situ and remotely sensed Particulate Inorganic Carbon in a coccolithophore bloom in the Iceland Basin
Timotheus Fügl, Oceans & Lakes - Winner of the Master Thesis Award (general category)
16:40 Award ceremony
- Dr Edouard Delcroix Research Grant
- Dr Edouard Delcroix Incentive Award
- VLIZ Philanthropy Brilliant Marine Research Idea grants
- VLIZ North Sea Award
- VLIZ Master Thesis Awards
- VMSD Best Predoc Presentation Award
- VMSD Best Poster Award
16:55 Closing remarks
17:00 Reception (until 18:30)