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