22 June 2026, by RTG 2530

Photo: Moritz Nusser

From 12 to 16 May 2026, Julia Golebiowska, Max Lambrecht, Sahed Ahmed Palash, and Diana Nicole Puerto Rueda attended the ASLO-SIL Aquatic Confluence – one of the largest international conferences for aquatic sciences. Around 1,900 researchers in freshwater and marine science travelled to Montreal to participate in the five-day programme. The event promoted interdisciplinary scientific exchange, with a focus on how water bodies are connected through organisms or chemical processes, and the challenges these connections pose for aquatic ecosystems.

Max Lambrecht, Sahed Ahmed Palash, and Diana Nicole Puerto Rueda presented their 2024 mesocosm warming experiment, which used 10,000 litres of Elbe River water, in the session „SS082 Mesocosm-based approaches for tackling grand challenges in aquatic ecosystems“. Julia Golebiowska gave a talk in the session „SS032 Microbial Interactions in Aquatic Environments: Mechanisms, Impact, and Future Directions“ on how salinity shapes virus distribution in the Elbe estuary, and how humans potentially impact the relationship between viruses and their hosts.

During the discussions that followed the talks, the audience asked numerous questions, showing a particular interest in the research methods. The doctoral researchers from the RTG found the scientific exchange after the talks and throughout the conference particularly valuable and inspiring. “It was nice to finally meet the people in person we usually only communicate with via email or through publications,” said Max Lambrecht. Julia Golebiowska also described the encounters as a “great opportunity to reconnect with people in the field”.