Four researchers were recognized for outstanding posters and oral presentations on topics ranging from wild fish cancer and skate bycatch to new approaches for fisheries surveys and the environmental effects of offshore renewable energy.
Best Presentations
Pauline Denis
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences / Ghent University, Belgium
Cumulative impacts of floating solar structures co-located with North Sea offshore wind farms
Denis' work uses numerical modelling to investigate the environmental effects of floating solar structures co-located with offshore wind farms. She notes that numerical modelling is an important tool for assessing the potential impacts of emerging offshore infrastructures, particularly when their effects have not yet been extensively observed in the marine environment. Rather than looking at infrastructure projects in isolation, the research examines interactions between hydrodynamic and biogeochemical processes while also considering how changes at lower trophic levels could propagate through marine food webs.
The work contributes to understanding the cumulative effects of growing human activity at sea and supports the development of science-based advice for sustainable marine spatial planning.
Georgina Vickery
Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Increasing accuracy and biodiversity captured from acoustic surveys using in-trawl stereo cameras and open cod end towing
With increasing pressure on marine resources, coupled with increasing limitations on time at sea, to maintain or increase the spatial or temporal resolution of data available to inform management decisions, it is essential to leverage the advantages offered through new technology.
Vickery's research explores how new technologies, including cameras, remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles, can complement traditional approaches to monitoring marine living resources. By integrating these new data sources into existing time series, the work aims to maintain or improve the information available for stock assessment and advice while facing constraints on time at sea, funding and environmental impacts.
Vickery's work contributes to four of ICES scientific priorities, particularly the use of emerging technologies.
Best Posters
Kaitlyn Cisz
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, US
Skates, Skates, Everywhere? Combining Seasonal Groundfish Survey and Opportunistic Bycatch Data to Understand the Complexities of the United States Northeast Skate Complex
Cisz's research brings together seasonal groundfish survey data and opportunistic bycatch information to better understand skate populations, ecosystem engineers considered among the most vulnerable groups of exploited marine life, and the challenges of managing these vulnerable fish. The work spans collaboration with commercial scallop fishermen, historical taxonomy, genetics, morphology and life-history research.
For Cisz, the research is also about communication and collaboration. Her background in psychology has shaped her holistic view of science and a strong interest in sharing research, working across disciplines, and supporting the next generation of scientists.
Randel Kreitsberg
University of Tartu, Estonia
Not all fish are equal! Comparison of cancer risk and pollution effects
Kreitsberg's work uses existing data to explore how differences between fish species can affect their responses to pollution and cancer risk. One important message is that closely related species are not necessarily physiologically or evolutionarily alike, something that can have implications for research design and environmental monitoring.
Kreitsberg is also interested in the natural mechanisms that protect some fish from cancer. His work draws on the ecological and physiological diversity of wild fish to investigate how evolution may have shaped different forms of cancer protection.
Watch back
Together, this year’s award-winning presentations highlight the range of approaches needed to understand changing marine ecosystems, from new technologies and modelling to long-term datasets, genetics and field observations.
Congratulations to all the winners! Watch the Annual Science Conference 2026 Closing Ceremony with Awards presentations on our YouTube channel.
All three keynotes - Bridging science and policy: Collaborative pathways in Marine Spatial Planning, Celebrating 100 years of marine science in ICES Journal of Marine Science moderated by Howard Browman, and Does seasonality matter? by Francisco de Melo Virissimo - are also available to watch on ICES YouTube channel, along with the Opening ceremony, which includes ICES Outstanding Achievement Award presentations.
ASC 2027
Next year, our Annual Science Conference will take place from 27-30 September in Copenhagen, Denmark.
