Thanks to funding from the GSGS and the Gender Mentoring Agency (GMA) of the University of Cologne, I was able to attend the 12th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference. The conference took place in Oslo from 10th to 14th August 2026 and was organized by SCAR and the Norwegian Polar Institute. With 1,400 attendees, the conference provided the perfect opportunity to network with experts from various Antarctic disciplines.
I presented a poster entitled 'New perspectives on East Antarctic paleoecological and paleoenvironmental conditions from stomach-oil deposits', introducing a new methodological framework for examining stomach-oil deposits as a marine paleoenvironmental proxy.
I had the opportunity to attend various interesting talks, poster sessions and workshops. Thereby, I met several other PhD students from my project who are based at different German research institutions, as well as other members of APECS (Association of Early Career Scientists) Germany.
Additionally, I met a mentor assigned to me through the conference's own mentoring programme ('Antarctic Mentor Match Initiative'), as well as my mentor from the GMA. We discussed various topics related to scientific career planning.
Overall, I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend this conference and I am grateful to both the GSGS and the GMA for funding my stay in Oslo.
Lina Raffelsiefen
PhD student
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy
PhD project: Holocene environmental conditions in the coastal ocean off East Antarctica - evidence from the paleo-diet of snow petrels
Presentation title (Poster): New perspectives on East Antarctic paleoecological and paleoenvironmental conditions from stomach-oil deposits