Ocean Sciences session: Light in the ocean

Dear UKPN, 

Just sending around an advert for an OSM session that I'm co-convening (details below). It's not exclusively polar, but there's a big focus on the light changes from sea ice loss.

On a general note, please do consider attending OSM if you are in the field of marine science. It's such an amazing opportunity to have a conference of this size (~6000 people) in the UK. 

Thanks,

Laura. 

PI006 - Light in the ocean: From fundamental driver to emerging change - drivers, impacts and monitoring changing marine lightscapes

Light is fundamental to life in the ocean, shaping everything from photosynthesis and food webs to predator-prey interactions, migration patterns, and biological clocks. However, marine lightscapes—the natural patterns of underwater light—are undergoing rapid and unprecedented change. Coastal darkening, artificial light at night (ALAN), and sea ice loss are altering light intensity, spectral composition, and timing, with cascading effects across ecosystems.

This session explores the drivers, dynamics, and ecological consequences of changing underwater light regimes. We invite interdisciplinary contributions spanning ocean optics, microbial ecology, marine biology, environmental physics, and coastal management. Topics may include remote sensing and in situ monitoring, ecological modeling, biological feedback to ocean optics, and the role of light in shaping ecosystem structure and function. Emphasis will be placed on research that integrates spatial and temporal scales—from estuaries to ocean basins and from historical change to future projections—as well as studies that link science with policy or stakeholder engagement. By illuminating how altered light environments interact with climate and land-use change, this session aims to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and inform evidence-based strategies for managing and conserving aquatic ecosystems in a rapidly changing world.

 

Dr. Laura Hobbs Lecturer in Arctic Marine Science, SAMS Adjunct Researcher at UiT The Arctic University of Norway I work Monday-Thursday

+44 (0)1631 559228  Laura.hobbs@sams.ac.uk sams.ac.uk | www.oceanexplorercentre.org| sams-enterprise.com Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, Argyll, UK. PA37 1QA

 

SAMS is an academic partner of the University of the Highlands and Islands: www.uhi.ac.uk.

 

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