31 Aug 2006

World's marine ecosystem issues addressed by European Marine Biology Symposium at UCC


More than three hundred marine biologists from all around the world are converging upon Cork next week. The prestigious 41st European Marine Biology Symposium will be held in UCC from 4 - 8th September 2006 and welcomed by Professor Paul Giller, UCC Registrar, himself a distinguished ecologist. The symposium has been held annually since 1966 and has visited some 20 European countries. Each year it addresses a particular topic. For Cork the theme is: Challenges to Marine Ecosystems.

The world’s marine ecosystems face multiple challenges, some natural, but many resulting from humankind’s activities. Global climate change, driven by influences of energy usage and industrial practices, is a reality now accepted by most of the world’s scientists, media and political establishments. Warming seas and rising sea levels are regarded as threats, while visionaries consider deep ocean carbon disposal as a technological opportunity. Exploitation of the seas continues apace, with repeated concerns over the impact of over-fishing, plus reservations about the environmental effects of marine aquaculture. We need to understand how resilient organisms and ecosystems are to these challenges, while responding by protecting appropriate areas of the oceans. The subthemes of the 41st European Marine Biology Symposium address all of these matters. Distinguished keynote speakers have been attracted from Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK. Some 90 lectures will be delivered in the Boole Lecture Theatre and 170 posters exhibited in UCC’s Student Centre during the week-long Symposium.

The Symposium has been planned for 4 years and has attracted generous sponsorship from the Marine Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, Fáilte Ireland, Blackwell Publishing, The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, MARS (the European Marine Research Stations Network), NDP, BIM, MarBEF (the Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning EU Network of Excellence), the Heritage Council and theInstitute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology. After the meeting, much of the research discussed will be published in learned journals, but this is also a great opportunity for marine biologists who work in Ireland to network with their peers across the world.

European marine biologists will obviously make the most of their time in Cork. At a conservative estimate they’ll bring in €250-300,000 to the local B&B, restaurant and bar economies during the week. The first European Marine Biology Symposium was held on Helgoland in early autumn 1966 and a highlight of that Beatles’ heyday was a splendidly silly competition by national teams for the ‘Yellow Submarine’ trophy. For four decades the tradition has continued, and the trophy has crisscrossed Europe and even visited Japan. UCC postgraduates have a secret competition lined up for Garretstown beach on Wednesday afternoon. Heineken Ireland have most generously contributed to the fuel for that competition.

Ends


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