Practise your presentation skills
The Strategic Initiative on Integration of Early Career Scientists (SIIECS) online seminar series provides an informal and supportive forum for especially early career scientists to practise giving oral presentations. During the session, presenters receive constructive feedback while using the opportunity to get rid of their 'nervous jitters' before their actual presentation.
The series continues on 12 November with three presenters:
13:00
Introduction to ICES and SIIECS
Furqan Asif, SIIECS member
Presentations followed by feedback sessions
13:15
Assessing the role of coastal ecosystems in flood reduction in the coastal communities of Rivers State using InVEST coastal vulnerability model
Chinomnso
Onwubiko, University of Cape Coast
13:30
An ecosystem model for assessing potential impacts of offshore windfarm on Eastern English Channel ecosystem
Yansong
Huang, Ifremer
13:45
EnviroVision2050 – Green Leaders (Ocean) - one earth.one ocean. one future
Charu
Gupta, EnviroVision2050
13:55
Wrap up
Furqan Asif, SIIECS member
Future dates
Our seminar series takes place every two months, on the second Tuesday of the month at 13:00–14:30 CET.
Join our upcoming events:
11 February 2025
What is SIIECS?
The Strategic Initiative on Integration of Early Career Scientists
(SIIECS) is for anyone who identifies as an early career scientist
and wants to be involved in ICES activities. Join us!
If you are interested in getting involved with SIIECS or
receiving SIIECS newsletter, drop us a line!
Read more about SIIECS.
Presentation summaries for this event
Assessing the role of coastal ecosystems in flood reduction in the coastal communities of Rivers State using InVEST coastal vulnerability model
Chinomnso Onwubiko, University of Cape Coast
Coastal ecosystems are crucial in mitigating the impact of coastal hazards on society. This comes as an improvement of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and also following the declaration of the ocean decade by the United Nations (2015 -2030). However, there are limited studies regarding their protective role in Rivers State, Nigeria. Therefore, this study aimed to assess their contribution to protecting coastal communities from flooding using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Coastal Vulnerability model (version 3.10.2) developed by the Natural Capital Project. The model is an integrated tool used to visualize disaster risk under different ecosystem conditions by analyzing the role of each data. It is scenario-based and analyzes various data inputs and assigns relative numbers, ranging from 1 to 5, indicating different levels of exposure. Data on population, bathymetry, shoreline type, land use land cover, and continental shelf were obtained from relevant websites and the InVEST model package. The findings indicate that the mangrove ecosystems, in addition to the sandy beaches, in River State will provide minimal protection against coastal flooding in the event of a flood. This could be a result of impacts from oil spills and over-exploitation. Furthermore, the socio-economic conditions in the communities contribute to increased vulnerability to flooding. Their low adaptive capacity increases exposure and sensitivity thereby increasing vulnerability to flood risk. The results also identified areas along the coast that are at greater risk of flooding and provide a scientific undertone for protection against coastal flooding and sustainable development of the study area. The study recommends programs aimed at changing the perceptions and awareness of the benefits of mangrove ecosystems; increasing conservation and restoration projects; and enforcing laws against illegal oil mining and deforestation. The result of this study can serve as a tool in disaster risk management.
Keywords: climate change, disaster risk, ecosystem model, flood, nature-based solutions
Bio: I am a marine social scientist with an interest in coastal management, GIS, and mixed-method research.
An ecosystem model for assessing potential impacts of offshore windfarm on Eastern English Channel ecosystem Yansong Huang, lfremer
The development of offshore wind farms (OWF) plays a crucial role in the energy transition. However, the ecosystem effects of this expansion remain largely unexplored. The main objective of this work is to improve the evaluation of the ecosystem effects of OWFs by considering multiple pressures in a single modelling framework and analysing the ecosystem response under different scenarios of OWF deployment and fishing strategies. This study is an application of a multi-species individual-based model - OSMOSE. Four scenarios of OWF deployment were simulated to investigate the ecosystem response of multiple pressures related to windfarm installations: 1/ energy costs minimisation, 2/ exclusion from regulatory environmental protection zones, 3/ minimal limit of distance from the coast and 4/ a balanced scenario combining the previous three scenarios. The scenarios accounted for the following pressures: fishing access restriction, underwater noise, benthic habitat modification, and changes of primary productions, etc. Several ecosystem indicators were used to assess the effect of each pressure as well as the combined effect of all pressures under the different scenarios. Furthermore, a focus on biomass and catch-based indicators gave insights into the spatial extent of the spillover effect and the cumulative impacts of fishing and OWFs in the Eastern English Channel ecosystem.
Keywords: ecosystem model, offshore wind energy, scenarios, cumulative impacts
Bio: I am a PhD student at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer). I am interested in ecosystem modelling and the impacts of offshore windfarms on marine ecosystems.
EnviroVision2050 – Green Leaders (Ocean) - one earth.one ocean. one future Charu Gupta, EnviroVision2050
Keywords: sustainability, India, ocean literacy, youth, EnviroVision
Bio: As a media and policy advocacy expert, I am currently an advocate for Ocean sustainability through the youth-driven, ocean literacy program EnviroVision2050.