Sea to Summit at Eurokarst

All members of the From Sea to Summit project, attended the Eurokarst conference at the University of Neuchâtel (UNINE-CHYN).

This conference provided the platform for 200 participants from 32 countries to meet in at the Unimail campus of the Faculty of Sciences for three full days of oral presentations and posters. Eight different organisations and companies booked a stand to exhibit their products and projects during the three days at the campus. Several scientific workshops were held on the Sunday preceding the opening ceremony, allowing practitioners and researchers to exchange on modelling approaches, tools and software.

Congratulations to the three young reserachers who were nominated for the prize of the IAH karst commission. Hats off to those attendees who also took part in the Neuchâtel discovery run on Tuesday 1st September : there was no better way to whet one’s appetite before the gala dinner. During the last two days of the week saw participants on three separate excursions to the Swiss Alps, and to several French and Swiss Jura karst areas.

In several key aspects, the conference engaged with a broader public audience. One such was the performance of “Inception Horizon”, composed and presented by Norah Constance Walsh and sung by the Académie Vocal de Suisse Romande, under the direction of Dominique Tille. Another was the well-attended public lecture given by Bruno Arfib, on the challenges facing the partly underwater Grotte Cosquer (Marseille, France), a unique cave where various forms of rock art are at risk from sea level rise.

The project team, in particular Manon Trottet, Klara Kvesic and Kajo Podrug presented posters and while Tanguy Racine gave an oral presentation. They also took part in and led the fieldtrip to the Tsanfleuron karst area.

The younger members of the team at Eurokarst conference (UniNe, Neuchâtel). From left to right: Manon Trottet, Klara Kvesic, Matej Sodan, Kajo Podrug

From Sea to Summit is jointly funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ).