News Archive

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Six PhD students and four postdoctorate researchers from The UWA Oceans Institute presented their recent work at the Physics of Estuaries and Coastal Seas (PECS) conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

More than 80 oceanographers from all over the world - including Germany, the USA and England - gathered at the Mount Lavinia Hotel in mid September to learn about the most recent developments in the physics of estuaries and coastal seas.

Chaired by Winthrop Professor Chari Pattiaratchi, this year's conference focused on the theme of ‘Coastal and Estuarine Observations and Modelling'. Asha de Vos, a PhD student from the Oceans Institute, presented her work on the factors influencing aggregations of blue whales off southern Sri Lanka.

Blue whales are known to aggregate in areas where cold, nutrient-rich water has ‘upwelled' to the surface and given rise to phytoplankton blooms, which in turn support krill - their main food source. The physics of oceans, therefore, is highly relevant to Asha's work.

She says the conference was a good opportunity for junior scientists to showcase their work.

"The conference really did provide the sort of atmosphere where all of us at different stages of our projects - and I'm probably at the earliest - could feel like there was an appreciation for our efforts," said Asha. "Everyone was friendly and enthusiastic about the work."

The emphasis of this year's conference on modelling reflects the growing importance of predicting the effects of climate change and sea level rise on estuaries and coastal seas. Accurate models are critical for management measures to effectively reduce the expected impacts.

Cyprien Bosserelle, another PhD student from the Oceans Institute, presented his work on modelling long-term wave climate in the eastern Indian Ocean - a topic tied closely to climate change and sea level rise. He's studying wave climate in the past so that changes being observed today can be put into a relevant context.

Cyprien also found the conference hugely beneficial. "I got lots of really good, relevant comments about my work," he said. "It was great because you get to talk with people working on the same things; people whose names you have read a lot about but have never met before."

PECS has been hosting international conferences every two years since 1978. The papers presented this year will be published as special issues of the journal Ocean Dynamics .

Page 1 & 9: The UWA Oceans Institute December Newsletter

Media references

Maryann Evetts (The UWA Oceans Institute), (+61 8) 6488 8116