On the 10th and 11th of December 2012 the Centre for Ocean Life and the FNU-network Trait-based Plankton Ecology joint for their annual retreat at Sømine station
On the 10th and 11th of December 2012 the Centre for Ocean Life and the FNU-network Trait-based Plankton Ecology joint for their annual retreat at Sømine station close to Holbæk. The station is located inside a beautiful forest and at the shore of Isefjord. It was the perfect place for a two-day meeting packed with lots of presentations and discussions.
The first day started off with an introduction to trait-based modeling by Øyvind Fiksen from the university of Bergen, and followed by presentations from students and postdocs of the Centre for Ocean Life. The topics ranged from theoretical models, over laboratory experiments to fisheries. In the evening the advisory board members and the leaders of Ocean Life met for the annual business meeting. The second day was all about the FNU-project ‘Trait Based Plankton Ecology’, and like the previous day consisted of interesting talks, this time covering autecology, microbial ecology, biological oceanography and the aquaculture of plankton species. 'Unfortunately', the talks were so interesting that hardly anyone took pictures of the fully packed audience hall during both days.
Of course the program also allowed for social gatherings during several coffee breaks and the fabulous dinner, where we discussed new ideas and collaborations. Luckily our retreat happened during the snowiest time of 2012 in Denmark, so that there was the chance to introduce the concept of snow and snowball fights to new members of the Centre unfamiliar with that 'matter'.
Overall the meeting was a big success and we await the one coming next year.