Topic 6 Symposium 2026

Sep 30, 2026, 9:00 AM → Oct 1, 2026, 4:15 PM Europe/Berlin

8A-002 - Hörsaal Ostufer / Lecture Hall East (GEOMAR - Standort Ostufer / GEOMAR - East Shore)

Anja Engel, Frauke Pescheck, Beate Slaby (GEOMAR)

Topic 6 Symposium

Abstract-book-Topic-6-Symposium-2026.pdf

Wed, September 30

Arrival and registration: Topic 6 Symposium 2026

with coffee

Welcome: Anja Engel and Katja Matthes

Conveners: Anja Engel (GEOMAR), Katja Matthes (GEOMAR)

Marine Ecosystem Futures: Biodiversity & Society: Part I

Convener: Meren (HIFMB)

1 From customary tenure to capital: connecting ocean, water and fisher peoples’ territorial struggles to global production networks, land politics and agrarian change

Speaker: Paula Satizábal (HIFMB)

2 For oblique engagement with tipping points: diversifying perspectives for governing a changing Earth

Speaker: Cameron Byron (HIFMB)

3 Calcium signaling: the missing link in the bleaching cascade

Speaker: Nils Rädecker (HIFMB)

4 Microbial seasonal succession in the Arctic surface ocean: a dance on a tightrope

Speaker: Xi Chen (HIFMB)

11:30 AM Coffee

Adaptation in Marine Organisms: Part I

Convener: Sylke Wohlrab (AWI)

5 Patterns of epigenetic variation in Caribbean reef-building corals

Speaker: Kim de Luca (HIFMB)

6 Synteny-aware microbial pangenomes reveal blueprints of genomic variation

Speaker: Alexander Henoch (HIFMB)

7 Biochemical capacities and limits of benthic marine invertebrates in the Arctic

Speaker: Reinhard Saborowski (AWI)

8 Unravelling deep pelagic predator prey interactions: a multi census approach

Speaker: Henk-Jan Hoving (GEOMAR)

1:00 PM Group picture

1:15 PM Lunch

Marine Carbon & Element Cycles Ahead: Part I

Convener: Maya Dalby (AWI)

9 Biologically processed carbon drives the annual marine carbon sink over centuries after CO2 emissions cease

Speaker: Wolfgang Koeve (GEOMAR)

10 Large-particle regimes coincide with high carbon export but low mesopelagic transfer efficiency

Speaker: Bianca Thobor (GEOMAR)

11 Cold storage: efficient trapping of iron in Greenland’s fjords

Speaker: Yaqing Ruan (GEOMAR)

12 Microbial metalloenzymes shape biogeochemical nutrient cycles: trace metals and phosphorus

Speaker: Viktoria Steck (GEOMAR)

Flash talks for posters: Part I (19 x 1 minute)

Poster Session: Part I

with coffee

Ocean Pressures & Policy: Part I

Convener: Lars Gutow (AWI)

13 Impacts of marine spatial planning in the German exclusive economic zone

Speaker: Maysa Ito (GEOMAR)

14 Deep sea mining, sediment plume and impact on benthic megafauna

Speaker: Iason Gazis (GEOMAR)

15 How research triggers political decisions – the success story of marine munitions

Speakers: Jens Greinert (GEOMAR), Samar Ensenbach (GEOMAR)

Symposium dinner buffet-style

Thu, October 1

Marine Ecosystem Futures: Biodiversity & Society: Part II

Convener: Katja Metfies (AWI)

16 Long-term satellite observations (1998–2025) reveal changing phytoplankton community structure and phenology in the Fram Strait

Speaker: Hongyan Xi (AWI)

17 SEAKEY - a new identification key for the seaweeds of the German coasts

Speaker: Svenja Heesch (GEOMAR)

18 New findings on the CAO ecosystem and implications for policy and management

Speaker: Hauke Flores (AWI)

Flash talks for posters: Part II (15 x 1 minute)

Poster Session: Part II

with coffee

Adaptation in Marine Organisms: Part II

Convener: Daniela Storch (AWI)

19 Heat adaptation of Fucus meadows from molecules to ecosystems

Speaker: Daniel Liesner (GEOMAR)

20 Results overview from the MOSAiC ecosystem team

Speaker: Clara Hoppe (AWI)

21 Functional motifs in food webs and networks

Speaker: Melanie Habermann (HIFMB)

12:15 PM Lunch

Marine Carbon & Element Cycles Ahead: Part II

Convener: Tom Browning (GEOMAR)

22 Leveraging metagenomic data for genome-resolved inference of microbial metabolic interactions at scale

Speaker: Iva Veseli (HIFMB)

23 Seasonality and mineral type shape phytoplankton re-sponses to ocean alkalinity enhancement in temperate waters – a mesocosm study

Speaker: Juliane Tammen (GEOMAR)

24 When microbes meet rocks: microbial responses to enhanced benthic weathering in coastal sediments

Speaker: Stefanie Böhnke-Brandt (GEOMAR)

1:45 PM Coffee

Ocean Pressures & Policy: Part II

Convener: Gunnar Gerdts (AWI)

25 Light pollution can influence growth in macroalgae and epiphytes

Speaker: Mark Lenz (GEOMAR)

26 Studies on the effects of (micro)plastics and alternative materials

Speaker: Lars Gutow (AWI)

27 AI MareExplore: utilizing AI for marine enzyme discovery to address human-made grand challenges

Speaker: Erik Borchert (GEOMAR)

Looking into the Future: Growing from Topic 6 into Topic C

Conveners: Eric Achterberg (GEOMAR), Katja Metfies (AWI)

Wrap-up and Farewell

Convener: Anja Engel (GEOMAR)