2021 – Edition

A cross-system view of the biological carbon cycle in the anthropocene

Presentation of the edition

The Ramon Margalef Colloquia are inspired by the scientific legacy of Ramon Margalef (Barcelona, 1919-2004). We want to honor his holistic approach by presenting an exciting program addressed to students and postdocs interested in ecology, modeling and global biogeochemical cycles. Under the motto “A cross-system view of the biological carbon cycle in the Anthropocene”, the 2021 Colloquia aims at promoting creative thinking by bringing together ecological knowledge from experts on terrestrial, limnetic and marine systems.

Through cross-system discussions between students and the invited experts, the analogies and disparities concerning the ecology and biogeochemical functioning of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems will be highlighted.

Organization

The RMC-2021 will be held online.

The scientific organization of the RMC-2021 will be provided by ICM-CSIC, SIBECOL and CREAF, with the support of MOORE Foundation, SCOR and Ona Futura. The ICM-CSIC will provide technical support to the speakers for virtual connections, audio and video issues.

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Content

Addressing the current challenges in ecology is, today, more necessary than ever given their social and health repercussions and it requires global and inclusive science. During the 2021 Ramon Margalef Colloquia (RMC) we will make an effort to build bridges among disciplines, aiming to inspire the participants to move from “sealed” to “permeable” areas of knowledge and to promote multidisciplinary and holistic approaches to understand the carbon cycle at a global scale. The course will cover different environments (marine, limnetic and terrestrial) as well as a variety of biotic and abiotic processes, thus becoming an excellent opportunity to bring together researchers with similar questions, but working in fields that rarely communicate between each other.

Furthermore, this edition of the course will focus on the feedbacks between ecology and biogeochemistry, and how the processes studied by both disciplines shape the global carbon cycle on earth. We will also discuss future prospects of geo-engineering to mitigate the excess of atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification.

We are convinced this 7th Colloquia will be, again, an excellent opportunity to foster the learning of an interdisciplinary perspective in Ecology & Biogeochemistry. Typically, we have ~30 international students and postdocs participants, along with a handful of mentors.

The past Seminars were percieved very positevely among attendees due to their unique-blend of interactive setting based in knowledge-exchange and cutting-edge research. During the coming RMC we plan to bring together a diverse, international group of young scientists studying a variety of ecosystems to learn about new advances in the study and understanding of the carbon cycle, to share ideas, as well as build future collaborations. To achieve our objective, we have invited local and international lecturers that work at the forefront of ecology and biogeochemistry research.

program

Tuesday 5 October

Afternoon

Welcome and instructions
Icebreaker presentations: Round table in wich each student presents two slides about her/himself.
Virtual rooms avaliable for goups of students: Time to prepare how to lead the discussion for the next day

Wednesday 6 October

Morning

Topic: Organic matter production. Environmental constrains and biological optimizations.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students. Time to prepare how to lead the discussion (or questions) for the discussion session.

Afternoon

Discussion led by a group of students.

Participants: The 3 groups of students and at least the teachers and the coordinator of the topic of the day.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students .Time to prepare a document with the results of the discussion.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students. Time to prepare how to lead the discussion questions for the next day.

Thursday 7 October

Morning

Topic: Organic matter decomposition. Environmental constrains and biological optimizations Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students.
Time to prepare how to lead the discussion for the nex day.

Afternoon

Discussion led by a group of students. (Group 2)
Participants: The 3 groups of students and at least the teachers and the coordinator of the topic of the day.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students. Time to prepare a document with the results of the discussion.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students. Time to prepare how to lead the discussion questions for the next day.

Friday 8 Ocober

Morning

Topic: Carbon sequestration efficiency in land and aquatic ecosystems. Geo-engineering approaches.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students. Time to prepare how to lead the discussion (or questions) for the discussion session.

Afternoon

Discussion led by a group of students. (Group 3)
Participants: The 3 groups of students and at least the teachers and the coordinator of the topic of the day.
Virtual rooms avaliable for groups of students. Time to prepare a document with the results of the discussion.
Results of the discussions. Student’s presentations.
Course Closure. Goodbye party.

Team

Course coordinators

Celia Marrasé
Stefano Merinelli
Maria Vicioso
Elena Martínez
Caterina R. Giner

Scientific Commitee

Pedro Cermeño
Andrea G. Bravo
Jordi Martínez- Vilalta
Càlia Marrasé
Maria Montserrat
Marta Sebastián

Speakers

Topic 1: Production
Susanne Neuer
Emily Stanley
Anna Sala

Topic 2: Decomposition
Gerhard Herndl
Dolly Kothwala
Amy Zanne

Topic 3: Sequestration
Adam Heathcote
Tim Lenton
Pep Canadell

Institutional support OF THE EDITION