Project Report

Overseas Fellowship Program Participant：FY2023 First Call Short-Term Program
Wakaba Otani (Hokkaido University)

I participated in the Ocean Science Meeting 2024 (OSM), which took place in New Orleans, USA, from February 18-23, 2024. OSM is an international conference to discuss the development and project of the future of ocean science held every two years. The event featured around 20 oral sessions at one time and over 2500 poster presentations, making it a significant gathering in the field of ocean science.

I attended to “Arctic Ocean Changes and Processes” session dedicated to Arctic oceanography and presented the findings from my master’s thesis. The presentation format involved a digital poster, where I participated in 3-minute lightning presentation to provide an overview of my poster, followed by discussions with attendees at my monitor. My research focuses on the West Greenland region, where there are few studies for that region in Japan, I had active discussions with American researchers who are working on observation/modeling for the region of Greenland. Despite my research being model-based, I had the opportunity to interact with researchers conducting observations, leading to valuable insights. Additionally, I attended other presentations and engaged in discussions with industry representatives at the exhibition hall.

It was my first experience presenting at an international conference. I believe I delivered a satisfactory presentation without feeling overly nervous. The various attendees came to see my poster and had some interest in my study.

Lastly, I am grateful for the valuable experience provided through this opportunity. I acknowledge Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II (ArCS II) Overseas Fellowship Program for enabling me to participate in such events.