26 April 2024: 6th Marine Mammal Student Symposium
The 6th annual Marine Mammal Student Symposium took place on Friday, 19th of April 2024. The event was co-organised by the NAMMCO (North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission), NCLOS – Norwegian Centre for Law of the Sea, and the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway.
Under the theme “Navigating Arctic Waters: Strengthening ties between Marine Mammal Research, Indigenous Knowledge & Law and Policy Making”, we had 10 student presentations on different topics, spanning both biology and law, and addressing a number of different subjects, including climate change, genetics, behaviour, and legal regimes. Around 80 people attended the symposium, both in person and online.
We were also honoured by the presentations from three keynote speakers: Nikolas Sellheim , Emma Vogel , and Endalew Lijalem who provided some insight into how research, Indigenous knowledge, and policy making have to work together to reach the common goal of protecting the Arctic environment and its inhabitants.
We would like to say a big thank you to our volunteer team who helped orchestrate the whole event, to our co-organisers and to all presenters, speakers, and participants who made this another successful student symposium.