Mia and Mika are going to a conference
Last week, I had an exciting event with Mika. It was my first time attending a scientific conference. We got an early start on Monday, taking the train to Potsdam. We arrived there right on time at 10 a.m. and were able to register just in time: There, we received our fancy name tags, which we’ll wear throughout the week so everyone else knows our names. Mika was especially happy that, right on the first day, he got to reconnect with many friends he’d met in the Arctic, on the Polarstern, or on the plane.
Then we got right into the opening ceremony and the first presentations. Many scientists presented their work. My friend Sandro, whom I still know from last year, kicked things off. Sandro researched the atmosphere during the MOSAiC expedition and talked about it in his presentation. Like Sandro, many other researchers then shared their findings about the ocean, algae, or sea ice. After the first day and many hours of listening, I was pretty exhausted.
The next day, we continued at 9 a.m. But this time, there were lots of posters on display in the conference room. The researchers who created the posters stood next to them throughout the morning, explaining what they had worked on and what they had discovered. I was able to stroll through the hall all morning and strike up conversations with lots of researchers. Torben explained to me what he had measured from the airplane, Florian showed me how to measure ice using a diving robot, and Tabea explained the different types of algae that live in the ocean. I especially enjoyed this poster session because I could ask as many questions as I wanted!
The next day, I took part in a workshop. There, all the researchers gave a brief overview of the current state of research. This was followed by a lively discussion about how the findings and data could be better connected. It was really exciting to see how new ideas, hypotheses, and theories emerged during the discussion. Everyone agreed that they would meet again in six months to continue following up on the projects that had just been launched. In the afternoon, we took a trip together to Berlin to see an exhibition on the polar regions. It was so much fun to see the pictures from the Arctic and Antarctica, and Mika told me about his time in Spitsbergen and on the Polarstern.
I’ve learned a lot about the Arctic, the weather, satellites, and nature over the past few years. But this conference was something truly special. I learned so much and met so many nice people. On Friday, I was a little sad that this amazing week was already over and we had to say goodbye. But we’ve all already made plans to meet up at the next conference, and we’re looking forward to seeing each other again next year in Leipzig. What do you think—should I give a short presentation on my own research project then?
Text: Florian Zimmer, Illustration: Patrizia Schoch