Santa Marta, Colombia

Time: 2:00pm – 7:00pm

Engaging Colombian Early-Career Scientists in International Ocean Science

In Person, with some hybrid components

The SCOR annual meeting will be held 29-31 October 2025 at INVEMAR in Santa Marta, Colombia. The meeting will be preceded on 28 October by a symposium inviting interactions between the SCOR Community and Colombian scientists, with special attention to early-career scientists (ECS; students and those less than 10 years since degree) involved in ocean science. Participation by all annual meeting attendees is encouraged and appreciated.

Please note the shuttle pickup time for Symposium attendees of 1:20pm from the Hotel Tamaca Beach Resort.

 

Posters for Online Viewing

Student Category

• Mauricio Hurtado Peláez, Escuela Naval “Almirante Padilla”: Hurricane Track Prediction Using Machine Learning Models in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea
• [1st Place] Joan Sebastian Lagos Moreno, INVEMAR: Potential assessment of environmental DNA metabarcoding in the characterization of economically important fish in the Colombian Pacific
• [2nd Place] Maria Alejandra Lopez Rodriguez, Universidad Nacional de Colombia: New paleoceanographic signals from sediments at the Tore Seamount, Deep Atlantic Ocean
• Sergio Alexander Moncada-Alba, INVEMAR: Determination of Eukaryotic Diversity through Environmental DNA (eDNA) Metabarcoding in Marine Sediments 
• Maria Nariño-Vargas, INVEMAR: Preliminary Assessment of Coastal Eutrophication Potential Index (ICEP) and Ocean Colour Variables in Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM)
• Hector Alejandro Reyes Roman, INVEMAR: Generation of Resources for the Conservation of the Thalassia testudinum Ecosystem in the Colombian Caribbean
• Diego Andres Villate-Daza, Universidad de Cadiz: Coastal Dynamics and Geomorphology of the Pozos Colorados Sector, Santa Marta: An Analysis of Sea Level Rise and Paleo-shoreline

Recent Graduates Category

• Karen Ayala-Galván, INVEMAR: Diversity and structure of phytoplankton in the ocean waters of the central Colombian Caribbean: progress and prospects
• Daniel Felipe Bernal Glen, Universidad Nacional de Colombia: Approximation to Extant Coccolithophorid (Haptophyta) Diversity in a Continental Slope Location of the Southern Caribbean Sea – not available online due to unpublished information
• [2nd Place] Stephanie Buitrago, Universidad del Norte: Effects of Hurricane Matthew (2016) and Hurricane Maria (2017) on the subsurface layer of the Caribbean Sea observed by Argo buoys
• Laura Sofia González Carreño , INVEMAR: Biodiversity of Annelids (Phylum: Annelida) associated with rocky ecosystems in the Colombian northern Pacific
• Gustavo Adolfo Legarda Bermúdez, INVEMAR: Artificial Intelligence for Beach Monitoring: An Experimental Study of Beach Monitoring at Santa Marta, Colombia
• Brenda Natasha Mejía Guarnizo, INVEMAR: California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) diet during climate anomalies and prey analysis with metabarcoding in Los Islotes, Gulf of California, Mexico
• Maria Gabriela Quirama Molina, INVEMAR: Integrated ecological assessment in coral areas of Utría Cove in the Colombian Eastern Tropical Pacific 
• [1st Place] Alejandro Rodríguez-Sánchez, INVEMAR: Characterization of the Ichthyofaunal Diversity of La Guajira (0–1200 m) through Integrative Taxonomy

Experienced ECS Professionals Category

• Eliana Barrios-Vásquez, INVEMAR: Diversity of benthic worms (Annelida, Nemertea, Nematoda, and Platyhelminthes) associated with mesophotic slopes in the Malpelo SFF, Eastern Topical Pacific
• Edgar Fernando Dorado-Roncancio, INVEMAR: Key Copepod Species Indicators and Environmental Controls in Caribbean Oceanic Waters
• Nicoll Lizarazo, INVEMAR: Sponges Associated with the Chuchupa-Guajira Offshore Gas Platforms, with New Records for the Colombian Caribbean
• Ana María Pacheco Cárdenas, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano: Sighting of cetaceans in the department of Magdalena, Colombia
• [1st Place] Lorenzo Portillo Cogollo, INVEMAR: First Assessment of Marine Heatwaves in the Magdalena Department: Implications for Ecosystem Resilience
• Juan Fernando Saldarriaga-Vélez, INVEMAR: Microplastics on Beaches of the Colombian Caribbean and Pacific: Assessment Using a Harmonized Protocol for Latin America and the Caribbean
• Laura Sanchez Valencia, INVEMAR: A Decade of Seagrass Monitoring in the Colombian Caribbean: Advances and Perspectives
• Juan Pablo Sarmiento Díaz Granados, INVEMAR: From the Coastline to the Deep Sea: Local Innovations for Oceanographic Monitoring in Colombia
• [2nd Place] Sergio Andrés Tafur García, INVEMAR: Validation of a Density Separation Method for the Quantification of Mineral Coal in Marine Sediments 

Programme (text version)

• 1:20 Shuttle Pickup from Hotel Tamaca
• 2:00-2:05 Welcome from Organizers: Dr. Kai Deng, (Tongji University, SCOR Executive Committee) and Dr. Vanessa Yepes (INVEMAR)
• 2:05-3:45 Invited talks: Including INVEMAR Deputy Director of Scientific Coordination Jesús Garay, SCOR President Paul Myers (University of Alberta, Canada), Prof. Yuley Cardona (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, WG 172 Member), Prof. Bill Miller (University of Georgia, USA, SOLAS Co-Chair), Dr. Ilka Peeken (Alfred Wegener Institut, Germany, SCOR Vice President), Dr. Patricia Miloslavich from the RSV Nuyina (Australian Antarctic Division, Former SCOR Executive Director)
• 3:45-4:45 ECS Poster Session & Networking Break
• 4:45-5:30 Career Panel
• 5:30-7:00 Networking Reception & Poster Award Ceremony

*Remote participation will be possible during the invited talks and career panel.

In addition to the symposium, early-career scientists are encouraged to stay for the morning session of the SCOR annual meeting on 29 October, which will include summaries of SCOR’s activities over the past year and results of a survey distributed to early-career scientists. The entire meeting is open to observers for those interested in staying longer.