Kalender

Dear all,

The next BCCR Monday Seminar will be given by Thomas Larsen from the University of Kiel, Germany. He will present his work on Century-scale ecological shifts in Arctic guillemots: Linking isotopic archives to oceanographic change.

The seminar will take place in the usual BCCR seminar room (4th floor of the West wing) at 11:00.

We hope to see you there!

Best regards,

Fiona and Johannes

 
Abstract

Arctic seabirds face unprecedented environmental pressures from climate change and shifting ocean conditions. Understanding how these species have responded to past oceanographic changes is critical for predicting future ecosystem trajectories. This talk presents isotopic evidence from historical and contemporary guillemot tissues that reveals significant ecological shifts over the past century. Common guillemots (Uria aalge) and Brünich's guillemots (Uria lomvia) show distinct isotopic signals between historical (pre-1920s) and contemporary periods, suggesting changes in foraging ecology, diet composition, and potentially oceanographic conditions.
By integrating these biogeochemical archives with Bergen's ecological, oceanographic, and climatic models, we can contextualize century-scale changes in seabird ecology against documented shifts in ocean temperature, productivity, and circulation patterns. Compound-specific amino acid isotope analysis promises to further resolve the drivers of these changes, distinguishing between baseline shifts in ocean biogeochemistry and true trophic-level changes in seabird foraging. This work demonstrates how combining historical specimen archives with modern analytical approaches and oceanographic models can illuminate ecosystem responses to environmental change and inform conservation strategies for Arctic marine predators.

Speaker information

Thomas Larsen is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at the University of Kiel, Germany. His research bridges ecology, biogeochemistry, and archaeology to understand how environmental changes and human activities shape aquatic and terrestrial food webs. He pioneered the use of stable isotope fingerprinting of amino acids, a method that has revolutionized the tracing of biosynthetic origins in ecological studies. With two decades of international research experience across the US, Denmark, Spain, and Germany, his work spans marine food web ecology, Arctic seabird ecology, and ecotoxicology. Recently, he has been developing advanced spatial isotope models (isoscapes) using Sr, C, N, and O stable isotopes for terrestrial regions, expanding the toolkit for tracing animal movement and environmental change across landscapes.

Join Zoom Meeting 
https://uib.zoom.us/j/68304284910?pwd=2IgsDMWHuJlQw3XFHSTo3OoGBsRrhz.1

Meeting ID: 683 0428 4910
Password: 7pwZK4mG

Welcome to the One Ocean Summit Parallel Sessions! The Parallel Sessions part of the One Ocean Summit is open for registration, limited seats available.
Please choose wich session you would like to attend when registering.

I fjordens dyp lever skapninger som er tilpasset et nokså spesielt liv. Nede i dypet kan det gå mange år mellom utskifting av vannet. Få med deg den aller ferskeste fjordforskingen her!

Hazards Discussion Meeting Series 2026 – Your science and society

What?

Science talk on a paper or project, followed by an open discussion on how the presented science can reach “society”.

In the open discussion we will address the target “society” audience for the paper/project, how the main outcomes can be best communicated, and who at BCCR can help.

Who can attend?

Open to all BCCR.

When?

Every second Wednesday of the month, 11–12h, in Bjerknes Meeting Room (3rd floor).

13 May

Mats Venning (NORCE)

Climate Services

Paper

10 June

Victoria Miles (NSERC)

Urban climate hazards

FTI

Bjerknes Proposal Writing Workshop 2026

From idea to project: Writing successful project proposals

19.05.2026: 9:00 – 16:00 

20.05.2026:  9:00 – 15:30 

Registration deadline: 24.04.2026

Link for registration: Bjerknes Proposal Writing Workshop 2026 – Fill out form

Venue: UiB Læringsarena, Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen

Workshop leaders: Friederike U. Hoffmann, Research coordinator at GFI and EU expert evaluator; Nadine Goris, Researcher and Research Adviser at NORCE; Catherine Downy, Research Coordinator at NERSC 

Credit point: 1 (ECTS)

Maximum number of participants: 15 

For questions, please contact Friederike.Hoffmann@uib.no

The target group is early career scientists (postdocs, early career researchers, PhDs) in climate sciences with little or no experience in proposal writing. The workshop targets both those who already have a concrete project idea and a plan to submit a proposal, and those who want to gain general proposal writing and project development skills.

The workshop will enable you to apply for external funding for your own research. You will obtain the necessary skills through a mix of short lectures, group work, and plenary presentations, during which the research ideas of 3 participants will be developed into proposal concepts. 

You will learn about:

the central elements of a project proposal

how successful research proposals are developed, structured, and presented

the most relevant funding opportunities for early career scientists

You will learn how to:

present a project idea briefly and concisely (pitching)

develop the central components of a research proposal

structure these components into a convincing project concept

draft a project budget

In case the workshop is overbooked, Bjerknes members and scientists with own project ideas will be prioritized. For PhD students: this workshop makes the most sense if you are in the 3rd (or 4th) year of your PhD. PhD students in their 1st or 2nd year will not be prioritized. 

References:

General information about the workshop: Proposal writing training at Bjerknes Center

Publication about the course concept: Proposal Writing Training and Idea Development for Early‐Career Researchers Based on Constructive Alignment, Co‐Creation and Active Learning Strategies - Hoffmann - 2025 - Ecology and Evolution - Wiley Online Library

Topic: Modeling the Polar regions - what do we have and what are we missing?

Hazards Discussion Meeting Series 2026 – Your science and society

What?

Science talk on a paper or project, followed by an open discussion on how the presented science can reach “society”.

In the open discussion we will address the target “society” audience for the paper/project, how the main outcomes can be best communicated, and who at BCCR can help.

Who can attend?

Open to all BCCR.

When?

Every second Wednesday of the month, 11–12h, in Bjerknes Meeting Room (3rd floor).

10 June

Victoria Miles (NSERC)

Urban climate hazards

FTI

Hi all,

We are excited to announce an upcoming workshop, "Technological Advances in Climate Modelling", taking place June 15–19 at Bjerknes. We have invited five climate model developers to lead a mix of talks and hands-on sessions throughout the week.

The current program is as follows (subject to change):

• Monday morning: Introduction to Julia and script-based and interactive ESM modelling

• Monday afternoon: Introduction to GPU modelling

• Tuesday morning: Hands-on experiments using Oceananigans (ocean), SpeedyWeather (atmosphere), and Terrarium (land surface)

• Tuesday afternoon: TBD – possibly biogeochemistry-focused

• Wednesday morning: Hybrid physics–ML modelling, differentiable ESM modelling, and more

• Wednesday afternoon: A bit of continuation from the morning, and afterwards we will have a couple of hours for discussions and general questions of everything introduced since Monday

• Thursday morning: Coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations using script-based and interactive ESM modelling (it can be easier than you think!)

• Thursday afternoon: Coupled atmosphere–ocean large eddy simulation (LES) / nonhydrostatic modelling, with examples such as prescribed sea-ice leads or complex topography

• Friday: TBD; more discussion time

This workshop is designed to cater to a wide range of experience levels — from those running their first ocean, atmosphere, or land surface simulation, to seasoned modellers looking to deepen their knowledge of GPU computing, hybrid physics–ML approaches, and more. The introduction and hands-on sessions on Monday and Tuesday in particular are aiming to be beginner friendly, even if you have never approached a model, or Julia/GPUs, before. You are welcome to join only the sessions most relevant to you; there is no expectation to attend the full week. Our guest experts will be around for most of the week and will be available to discuss and help you get started.

We are also in discussions with Sigma2 about using their new supercomputer Olivia, which is equipped with the latest-generation GPUs and opens up exciting new possibilities for climate modelling.

A sign-up sheet will be circulated after Easter, once the program is finalised. In the meantime, we encourage you to block the week in your calendar if you are interested in joining.

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions — we look forward to seeing many of you there!

Best regards,

Kjersti Daae, Guillaume Boutin, and Andreas Klocker

Save the dates!

Save the dates!