"Environmental challenges in a changing world”

28 February to 02 March 2011
RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
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• Here you can find the abstract book for the meeting.
• The scientific committee has now finished abstract selection and sent out notification emails on 15 December 2010.
• Instructions for presenters can be found here: platform presentation and poster presentation
• Please note that the anticipated travel expenses you stated with your registration details will be the maximum amount we will be able to reimburse you. Please bring suitable receipts to the meeting. You will be reimbursed CASH on the first day of the meeting. Due to the high international transfer rates, we will not be able to transfer any money on your bank account.

Within the SETAC Europe Student Advisory Council (SAC) it is a well-known problem that only a few students can affort the relatively high costs of participating at an international congress. Not only registration fees but especially accommodation and travel expenses easily exceed the financial resources of young scientists during their M.Sc. or Ph.D. studies. Furthermore, congress novices often feel overwhelmed by the large number of senior scientists discussing cutting-edge science during e.g. SETAC Europe annual meetings, which ultimately leads to students behaving more like spectators than active participants. These circumstances strongly inhibit scientific exchange between the society and its student members. Thus, already very early in the history of the SETAC Europe SAC it became clear that measures have to be taken to better link the young environmental science community and to prepare student-members for a self-confident self-expression to actively and effectively participate at international scientific congresses such as SETAC annual meetings.
The first Young Environmental Scientists (YES) meeting at the University Koblenz-Landau, Landau campus, Germany, has impressively demonstrated one possible way to achieve these goals. For more information including a movie produced by the local organization committee, visit http://yes.sac-online.eu. A similar meeting is currently planned as a sequel to this well-regarded success of supporting actions for the upcoming generation of scientists by SETAC Europe.
The primary scientific aim of the 2nd Young Environmental Scientists Meeting - Environmental challenges in a changing world - , which is will take place in March 2011 at RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, is to discuss environmental challenges at the cutting edge of science and thereby serve the SETAC motto “Environmental Quality through Science”. For this purpose, a digest of recent issues discussed within the scientific community was selected (see scientific framework). Firstly, after every 15 minute platform presentation a considerable time will be given for vividly discussing the scientific results on the one hand and to give suggestions concerning style and performance of the presentation on the other. Secondly, the meeting is intended to equip students with the necessary soft-skills to develop international networks with other environmental scientists. A workshop on how to prepare excellent scientific publications and presentations held by Dr. Peter Chapman will be a signpost to overcome typical problems students encounter when first trying to communicate research results to the scientific community. Additionally, this workshop aims to prepare students for submission of high quality papers to (SETAC) journals.
Another major part of the meeting will be the job corner, which will be an excellent opportunity for young scientists to get into contact with possible future employers.

Scientific program of the meeting:

Session 1: "Nanoparticles: Fate, effects and risks."

Session 2: "Omics and biomarkers: Linking sub-organismic responses to ecologically relevant effects."

Session 3: "Aquatic ecotoxicology: Fate and effects of pollutants in the aquatic environment."

Session 4: "Terrestrial ecotoxicology: Biodiversity and terrestrial ecosystem functions."

Session 5: "From the screen to field: Modeling effects and exposure."

Session 6: "Environmental chemistry: Detecting emerging contaminants in a changing environment."

Session 7: "Implementing scientific knowledge in decision making: Management and remediation techniques."