Interdisciplinary Marine Early Career Network Newsletter
December 2023
Welcome to the latest issue of the Interdisciplinary Marine Early Career Network (IMECaN) newsletter!

If you are interested in providing ideas, contributing a story, or being featured in the newsletter, please get in touch with us at imecan@dal.ca or @IMECaN4.

In this newsletter:

  • Welcome to the new committee members
  • Early Career Researcher Spotlight 
  • ECR project looks for marine-themed murals
  • Interesting reads
  • Upcoming events
  • Opportunities & Jobs 
Welcome to the new committee members
Priyatma Singh is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Fiji. She previously taught at the University of the South Pacific (also located in Fiji). She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Linkoping University in Sweden. Her thesis focuses on Marine Spatial Planning and its impact on Small Island Developing States. Her research interests include ocean governance, coastal resilience, and ecosystem-based adaptation. She is engaged in several international projects with regional and international donors. Her current project focuses on goal conflicts between the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with emphasis on SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities: Reduce inequality within and among countries).
Mia Strand is a marine social scientist at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. Her research focuses on equity in ocean governance, knowledge co-production processes, marine cultural heritage and children’s rights to a healthy ocean. She is a researcher with thee One Ocean Hub, and an Ocean Nexus fellow starting January 2024. Before her PhD, Mia worked with non-governmental organisations and international development agencies in South Africa and Mozambique, and her passion for research with local coastal communities as co-researchers stems from first-hand seeing inequity in access to the ocean and opportunities in informing ocean decision-making. Mia is also a member of the UN Ocean Decade South Africa Node and the Africa Node’s Ocean Literacy Task Team.
Gabriella Akpah Yeboah is a Ph.D. student at the University of Ghana, specializing in oyster sclerochronology. She also has expertise in marine-related fields like plastic pollution and remote sensing. Gabriella also serves as the National Coordinator for Early Career Ocean Professionals in Ghana, and is a passionate advocate for underrepresented professionals and champions climate change awareness and marine conservation. Dedicated to broader causes, Gabriella presently holds the role of Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Ghana national coordinator. Driven by a fervent commitment to champion the interests of underrepresented ECOPs in Ghana and across Africa, she's a keen advocate for climate change awareness and marine conservation

Early Career Researcher Spotlight
Dr. Victoria Ndinelago Erasmus holds a Doctor of Philosophy in fisheries science from Rhodes University, South Africa. She also has a masters of science in Biology, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Molecular and Physiological Biology from the University of Namibia. Dr. Erasmus is a marine scientist who works as the Operations Manager at the Fisheries Observer Agency (FOA), Namibia. The fisheries observers monitor the harvesting, handling and processing of marine resources. Victoria has over ten years of research experience in the field of marine science. She has published 14 peer-reviewed scientific papers, including a book chapter. Her research interests include fisheries management, ocean governance, climate change, feeding ecology of marine species, and marine pollution. Dr. Erasmus has also been involved in various projects to improve food security and promote fish consumption in Namibia. She is the author of several children's books, including Little Monkfish Makes a Wish, a book about ocean literacy. Follow Victoria on X (former twitter): @VictoriaNdinel4 and on LinkedIn
If you’d like to be featured in the ECR spotlight in our next Newsletter, or would like to nominate a friend or colleague please get in touch with us by emailing imecan@dal.ca.
ECR project looks for marine-themed murals
Murals, striking works of art painted directly on walls, may have the potential to bridge the divide between urban populations and the marine environment, fostering a deeper connection to the ocean and the sea. This idea is the basis of the project “From Sea to Street”, a citizen science initiative that collects photos of ocean-themed murals and investigates which emotions they evoke in the viewer. The project is implemented by an interdisciplinary team of young scientists from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, the Latvian Academy of Culture and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.

How to participate:

(1) Find sea or ocean-related murals
(2) Share your photo of the mural, as well as the emotions, memories, and thoughts you associate with it: https://equalsealab.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ea3mnEdWLd6lY6a  
(3) Take the survey available in 8 languages: https://www.soscisurvey.de/fromseatostreet/   
(4) Win ocean and art-related prizes: https://www.instagram.com/from_sea_to_street/
Interesting reads: Uncertainty in Canada’s Marine Carbon Sink
Most oceans surrounding Canada are currently taking up atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), which is important for controlling climate change. Written by a group of early career ocean scientists (mostly PhD students!), this study shines a light on future climate actions as establishing policies for climate change mitigation relies on how well we understand the ocean's role in regulating global CO2. In the paper wesuggest future research efforts to bridge the gaps and reduce the uncertainty in Canada's carbon inventory reporting, and call for improvements on equity, diversity, and inclusion in ocean science and technology in collaboration with First Nations coastal communities, such as aligning the priority of our future studies with the 94 Calls to Action for Canada by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. If you want to know further go take a look at the full paper: Duke PJ et al. (2023). Canada’s marine carbon sink: An early career perspective on the state of research and existing knowledge gaps. FACETS. 8: 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0214
Other reads: 

Germond-Duret et al., 2023. Thinking outside the ocean-climate nexus: Towards systems-informed decision making in a rapidly changing world. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168228 

Karcher et al., 2023. Enabling successful science-policy knowledge exchange between marine biodiversity research and management: An Australian case study. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2078

Muhl et al., 2023. Transitioning toward “deep” knowledge co-production in coastal and marine systems: examining the interplay among governance, power, and knowledge. Ecology and Society. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14443-280417 

Santos et al., 2023. Advancing interdisciplinary knowledge for ocean sustainability. NPJ Ocean Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-023-00026-6 

Shiiba, Nagisa, et al., 2023 Climate change and coastal resiliency of Suva, Fiji: a holistic approach for measuring climate risk using the climate and ocean risk vulnerability index (CORVI). Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 28.2: 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-022-10043-4

Stelzenmuller et al., 2024. Framing future trajectories of human activities in the German North Sea to inform cumulative effects assessments and marine spatial planning. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119507 
Upcoming events (conferences, workshops and symposiums)
  • UN Ocean Decade South Africa Early Ocean Professionals (ECOP) Node first general meeting on December 4, 12-2 pm SAST online. If you are a South African ECOP, and interested in partaking, please fill out this form.
  • MASTS Annual Science Meeting 2023, Science, Sustainability And Society – Valuing And Protecting Our Marine Systems, 5th-7th December 2023 at the Technology & Innovation Centre (TIC), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, more information here.
  • Online webinar of Ocean Using Oral Histories to Improve MPA Planning and Management, OCTO: Open Communications for the Ocean,  6th December 2023, register here.
  • Enhancing MSP through Integration and Collaboration, and Connecting MSP across the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Beyond, Final Conference of eMSP NBSR, Gdansk Gulf in Poland, 31 January - 1 February 2024,  register here until 9 January 2024.
  • Coastal Futures conference 2024, London & online, 24th-25th January 2024, register here.
  • Changing Climates: Environmental Histories of Extractivism and Speculation in Denver, Colorado, April 3-7 2024. More information here. 
  • 2024 Ocean Decade Conference, 10th-12th April 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, full registration will take place from 1st December 2023. Call for posters and oral presentations with deadline 1st December. More information here. 
  • São Paulo School Of Advanced Science On Transdisciplinarity For Transformative Change. 8th-18th April 2024. Applications until January 08, 2024. Check out the details here. 
  • Environmental Interactions of Marine Renewables 2024 in Kirkwall, Orkney, April 15-19 2024. More information here.
  • Save the date: The Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) to be convened in 2024. Hosted by Antigua and Barbuda, SIDS4 will take place on 27-30 May under the theme Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity.
  • 16th Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference in Turku, Finland, June 4-6 2024. Call for papers deadline 30th November. More information here.
  • Marine socio-ecological systems symposium - MSEAS 2024 (delayed from MSEAS 2020) in Yokohama, Japan, June 3-7 2024. Abstract deadline Nov 15th. More information here.
  •  3rd World Biodiversity Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 16-20 June 2024.
  • Nominations for ECRs to speak at ICES ASC 2024! The conference will take place from 9-12 September in Gateshead, UK. Deadline by 8th December. Click here for more info.
  • Save the date: 7th International Marine Conservation Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, October 13-18th 2024. Check here for more details!
Opportunities
  • Trevor Platt Fellowship 2024 supports one ECR Fellow this year to undertake a research project at Plymouth Marine Laboratory in any aspect of biological oceanography. Applicants will be required to submit their research proposal, CV, capacity building & impact statement and a supporting statement by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory host, by emailing careers(at)pml.ac.uk before 15th December 2023.
  • PhD Opportunity - Impacts of marine protected areas on human wellbeing - University of Glasgow, UK - Deadline 5th January 2024 - More information here
  • New interdisciplinary PhD on Sharks + Oceanography + Social Science + Climate Change at the University of Plymouth, apply here by 16/01/24
  • PhD: Paleo-modelling of the Red Sea, University of Manchester, UK, Open until filled or April 2024
  • Conservation Biology: Call for abstracts for a special issue on Trends and Future Directions in the Conservation Social Sciences. Link here. 
  • Marine Policy Reviewer Research Grant ($3800). Please send your applications to Co Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Sebastian Villasante (sebastian.villasante (at) usc.es). Applications will close at midnight on the 1st December (AEDT).
  • Call for Papers for Ocean and Society - Deadline 30th November: The Outliers: Stories of Success in Implementing Sustainable Development Goal 14. More information here.

Job advertisements
  • Communications Consultant at IOC-UNESCO. More details here. Deadline by 3rd December.
  • Project Officer for a position in MPA establishment, in co-management with different partners and communities. Location: Santo Antonio, Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe. Deadline by 7th December. More information here. 
  • OYSTER (Orienting young scientists of EuroMarine) is looking for enthusiastic, engaged and creative early-career scientists. Deadline: 08 Dec 2023. More details here.
  • Research grant for a research assistant position in evolutionary physiology of coastal marine fauna under extreme temperatures, University of Aveiro, Portugal. Deadline by 20th December. More info here.
  • Assistant Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Maine. Review of applications to begin: January 2, 2024. Check more details here.

Share job opportunities with us by sending an e-mail to imecan@dal.ca or tweeting @IMECaN4.

Our friends at EuroMarine OYSTER regularly post job updates every Thursday on Twitter. Follow along for different opportunities! 
 imecan@dal.ca