Student Support

The ECS is supporting students to participate in conferences and workshops by regularly handing out grants to those not supported by their Universities or Research Institutes. Students have to apply for this grant when submitting their abstracts for the conference.

Volunteers

Want to help?

Student volunteers are an essential part of the ECS conference. They help the organizing committee manage all aspects of the conference (registration desk, technical support, poster sessions and more), and in return, they get free registration for the conference. 

In order to volunteer in the upcoming conference, the student must meet the following requirements:

Cetaceans as Oceanic Engineers

Cetaceans play important roles in marine ecosystems and can be regarded as oceanic ecosystem engineers. By enhancing nutrient cycling and carbon storage and sequestration, cetaceans have the capacity to alter their environment. Whales release buoyant, nutrient-rich fecal plumes in surface waters that can stimulate phytoplankton growth, creating the essential foundation upon which marine life relies.

Cetacean conservation: why maths matters

Conservation science can be said to have an additional requirement to ‘pure’ science – that is the need not only to do the best science possible and recognise its limitations – but the need to be able to influence decision makers and others of the need to take action to achieve the holy grail of good conservation status for populations and their environment. Almost inevitably, taking action will have socio-economic implications. The science itself is an essential, but not the only, factor that will be taken into account when politicians and managers make their decisions.

Porpoise conservation from science to regulation – basic principles illustrated by German wind farm developments

The principle that science provides the background for basic political decision making processes is tested today around the globe. While it is scientifically clear that climate change will reduce biodiversity worldwide, the installation of renewable energies is often rather seen as a foe than a friend to nature conservation. Conservation and climate protection are challenged by finding suitable solutions that quickly enable a basis for working together towards a common goal.

Biogeography of marine mammals and their vulnerability to climate change

Although extinction due to climate change are still uncommon, they might surpass those caused by habitat loss or overexploitation over the next few decades. Among marine megafauna, mammals fulfil key ecological roles in the ocean, and the collapse of their populations may have irreversible consequences for ecosystem functioning. However, the biogeography, essential step for predicting effects of climate change on marine megafauna was not so far explored in the literature.