Many SITES related activities have and will take place at Erken this Fall. A reminder that SITES stations are not only ecosystem research facilities but also provide a venue for bring different groups together to educate, discuss and explore a wide range of ecosystem science topics.
At the end of September, the Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, met at Erken Laboratory for a full day area of strength workshop focused on Evolution and Biodiversity in a Changing World. SITES participated in the workshop with a presentation of SITES as a research infrastructure and data recourse as well as a taking the group on a guided tour of the ongoing monitoring and experimental set up at the station. The workshop comprised of evolutionary biologist, limnologist, plant ecologist, animal ecologist and geoscientist, and thus was a nice opportunity for SITES to present to diverse audience.
Following this event, another group from the Division of Geochemistry and Hydrology, SLU, came to Erken for a two-day retreat to exchange experiences on monitoring instrumentation, data handling and laboratory work between the station staff and department employees. Fruitful discussions during this event hopefully will lead to a stronger collaboration between aquatic ecologists from both host organizations in the future.
Earlier next week, SITES first in person Scientific Advisory Board and Steering Group meeting will take place at the field station. A tour of Erken with a particular focus on the monitoring and experimental facilities provided by the SITES Thematic Programs is planned. Later in the week, SITES Secretariat members, Blaize Denfeld and Holger Villwock, will be teaching a section of a course called, from source to sea: Methods for evaluating human impact in aquatic habitats with a focus on biota, and databases. During the SITES lecture the students will hear about SITES open and FAIR data and complete a hands on tutorial focused on quality controlling data and the use of SITES data for their own research interest.