University of Copenhagen hosts annual SEACHANGE meeting in Denmark
Posted on 17/08/2022 By: Jake Scolding
During the last weekend in June, the SEACHANGE consortium set off to travel to their annual meeting, hosted by the University of Copenhagen. Being a carbon conscious bunch, those that could, opted to travel to Denmark via train, rather than taking the quicker option of flying. You’d be surprised at the difference in carbon footprint. For example, the University of Exeter staff who flew to Copenhagen from Newquay (and return) had a carbon footprint of 0.96 tonnes of CO2e. In comparison to those who travelled from Truro to Copenhagen by train (and return) having a carbon footprint of 0.04 tonnes of CO2e. Every little helps as they say!
After a day or two’s travel, everyone arrived in the small coastal resort town of Hornbæk on the evening of 25th June. It was a beautiful summer’s day and was remarkably hot. After checking into the wonderful Hotel Hornbækhus, it was soon time for dinner. Hornbækhus is a hotel with a strong belief in fellowship. This was echoed with all hotel guests dining at the same time on long communal tables. It really was the perfect location for the SEACHANGE annual meeting, with plenty of quiet rooms and garden space to discuss the project work in peaceful surroundings.
After dinner everyone was able to unwind from travelling, meeting in the garden for a drink before taking a stroll down to the beach. Most people had a paddle in the Baltic Sea (which was actually very warm), whilst looking over towards Sweden and watching the sunset. It was then time for bed before a busy few days of meetings.
After an early morning swim and breakfast, it was soon time to commence the first day of meetings and presentations. It was set to be a very busy day, with lots to get through from work packages 1 (North Sea, early to mid-Holocene) and 2 (North Sea, late Holocene). It was astounding the amount of work which had been undertaken so far on the project. With so much work to discuss including the zooarchaeological data generated from the University of York and the bivalves and gastropods sclerochronology work undertaken from the University of Mainz, it was no wonder that we found it difficult to keep on schedule. However, it was clear how important these discussions were in bringing the research streams together and formulating strategies for future work. The day ended with another lovely meal before further conversations about project work over a beer or 2.
Unfortunately, due to thunderstorms and rain there was no pre-breakfast swim on Day 2. The day was organised slightly differently, with an excursion to the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde planned for the afternoon. The first presentation was made via zoom by our project partner, Kevin Welsh, based at the University of Queensland. The consortium received an update about fieldwork plans for work package 3, as well as the continuing negotiations for permissions from the traditional landowners. The meeting then moved on to work package 4 which included Emelia (University of Copenhagen) presenting her data from environmental DNA extractions from cores collected off the North Iceland shelf.
After lunch all 27 consortium members jumped on the coach for the drive to Roskilde and the Viking Ship Museum. The team at the University of Copenhagen had arranged for us to have a tour of the Museum which included the excavated remains of 5 Viking ships (The Skuldelev Ships). It was truly fascinating to learn the history of how these ships had been sunk in the Danish fjord, only to be rediscovered over 1000 years later. The complementary mead tasting at the end of the tour was also another highlight.
The final day of meetings started with a review of work package 5. Evgeny presented some exciting new developments with the project’s collaboration with the Natural History Museum in London, explaining the potential sampling strategy of archived whale and seal bones sourced from Antarctica. The annual meeting culminated in a project strategy meeting to plan the objectives of the project over the next 12 months and discuss potential publications. Looking back on these 3 days of meeting now, it really was incredible how much this project has achieved. There is still a lot to be done, but we’re well on the way to delivering our project goals.
We all checked out of the hotel after lunch and travelled to Copenhagen where a visit of the National Museum awaited. This again was very apt for the SEACHANGE project, as it covered some of the cultural transition periods being investigated. The evening was spent wondering through Copenhagen and having our final meal and beers on the waterfront. The annual meeting really was a great success. Staying in Hotel Hornbækhus aided in bringing the consortium closer together which, in turn, facilitated some essential discussions to be had and solidified our research objectives for the next chapter of the project.
