Between the 17th and the 25th of August the SCAR Open Science Conference took place in Pucón, Chile. More than 1100 participants and specialists from the diverse field of studies in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean gathered and made this the largest SCAR event so far.
APECS was represented at the event through the 2023-2024 President José Queirós and by many APECS members and National Committees that participated and organized several APECS events throughout the entire week.
APECS co-convened a workshop and a social event with PSECCO (Polar Science Early Career Community Office). The workshop aimed to gather the perspectives of ECRs about the research priorities and the cience community culture towards the 5th International Polar Year. The ideas developed in this activity will inform the discussions at the Polar Early Career World Summit in Colorado, Boulder, US in 2025. Furthermore, both associations co-convened a morning coffee during the week so ECRs could chat while enjoying some hot coffee and chocolate brownies.
Over the week of the conference, 3 workshops (APECS Iberoamerican workshop, APECS Chile and PSECCO International Collaboration, and UKPN and APECS Uruguay Speed Science session), one meeting (by the Iberoamerican APECS NCs) and one social event (by APECS Chile) were organized which gathered hundreds of early career professionals to network, learn and socialize. These events were organised by several APECS National Committees, including (in alphabetical order) APECS Argentina, APECS Brasil, APECS Chile, APECS Colombia, APECS Mexico, APECS Portugal, APECS Spain, UK Polar Network and APECS Uruguay, highlighting the role of NCs as a key part of APECS as a network for polar early career scientists.
The APECS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Project Group also presented a poster during the conference showing APECS' activities improving DEI within our organization and in the polar research community. Members of the APECS DEI Project Group also participated in the meeting of the SCAR EDI Action Group where, among other topics, the collaboration between both organizations for the DEI workshop in December 2023 and potential future workshops was discussed.
Besides the organization of workshops and events, APECS was represented during the side event “International Polar Year 2032-33: From vision to action” with José participating in a panel discussion and presenting the advantages of including the Association of Polar Early Career Scientist during the planning of the 5th IPY. José outlined how ECRs can have a voice and active participation in the different groups, highlighting the organization of two world summits ahead of the IPY that will synthesize the early career perspective on the present and future of polar science. Furthermore, José contributed Climate and Criosphere (CliC) meeting, presenting the ongoing work of APECS and how both organizations can work together in the near future.
APECS expresses its gratitude to the organizers of the SCAR Open Science Conference 2024 and is excited to welcome the Antarctic Research Community again to the next SCAR Open Science Conference in Oslo, Norway in 2026!
