IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) selected its five best young scientists on 24 April 2014 at its Ninth International Scientific Symposium, Nha Trang, Vietnam, three for the best oral presentation and two for the best poster.
After three days’ selection, Mr. Ryota Nakajima (Japan), Ms. Intan Suci Nurhati (Indonesia) and Ms. Ngoc Tuyen Nguyen (Vietnam) won the Best Young Scientist Oral Presentation Award with their presentations, respectively on “Enrichment of microbial abundance in the sea-surface microlayer over a coral reef: implications for biogeochemical cycles in the reef ecosystems”, “Coral record of surface seawater density in the Western Indonesian Seas: Implication to 20th Century Indonesian Throughflow Variations” and “Assessing coastal vulnerability for PhuQuoc Island in conditions of sea level rise”.
While Mr. Toh Hii Tan (Malaysia) and Mr. Kazuya Takahashi (Japan) obtained the Best Young Scientist Poster Award with their posters on ” Habitat preference of potentially harmful benthic dinoflagellates in the fringing reefs of TalangBesar Island, Malaysia” and ” Morphology and phylogeny of two Suessiaceae related species (Dinophyceae) from Vietnamese coast” respectively.
The five winners will be awarded the full financial support for their participation to the next IOC/WESTPAC International Scientific Symposium in 2017 once their abstracts are accepted, including the most economic roundtrip air ticket, food and local accommodations.
The IOC/WESTPAC Best Young Marine Scientist Award was first established in 2011 for the serial IOC/WESTPAC International Scientific Symposia in order to encourage young marine scientists to devote themselves to marine science, sustained observations and services underpinning the sustainability of ocean and coastal resources to benefit all.
With the financial support of the Government of Vietnam, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), and State Oceanic Administration of China (SOA), 50 young scientists of no more than 35 years have been provided with partial and full travel support to facilitate their participation into the 9th WESTPAC International Scientific Symposium, 22-24 April 2014, Nha Trang.