Schedules and locations subject to change.

Town Halls

TH01 Closing Lake Superior's Carbon Budget After 20+ Years

Date/Time: Tuesday, 12-May-26, 13:00-15:00
Location: 518B

Lead Organizer: Kathryn Schreiner, University of Minnesota Duluth ([email protected])

Lake Superior (USA/Canada) plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycles because of its size (the largest lake on the planet by surface area) despite having the lowest productivity and nutrient concentrations of the five Laurentian Great Lakes. While inland lakes have a disproportionate impact on global carbon (C) cycling relative to their global surface coverage, Lake Superior's C budget remains poorly constrained. In 2005, a comprehensive C budget for Lake Superior was developed (Urban et al. 2005), which has served as the model for the past two decades. Although this represented a major step forward in estimating Lake Superior's C budget, the initial budget was significantly imbalanced, potentially due to a major source of organic carbon (OC) that was not accounted for. Recent studies using new approaches (e.g., underway monitoring by ships, isotopic methods, organic biomarker work) along with more spatially explicit data can be integrated into the C budget to update pool and process estimates. For example, recent estimates of productivity and respiration from metabolic models using underwater glider dissolved oxygen data were significantly greater than previous estimates (Gunawardana et al. 2025) and pollen has recently been identified as a potential substantial and previously unacknowledged source of C to Lake Superior (Zunker et al. In revision), signaling a need to revisit Lake Superior's C budget. Other important fluxes, such as C burial, CO₂ and CH₄ emissions, and respiration estimates have been updated in the literature since the seminal C budget.

In this town hall, we will discuss recent updates to Lake Superior's C budget with participants, including identifying any missing pools or processes, prioritizing pools and processes in need of constraint, and identifying recent studies or unpublished data to be integrated into estimates. We welcome participants who have worked on any part of C cycling in Lake Superior, and there will be time for questions and discussion after our informal presentation. We plan to use this town hall to assemble a team of core collaborators to work with us to update Lake Superior's C budget.

TH02 Towards a cross-organizational early-career aquatic science alliance

Date/Time: Wednesday, 13-May-26, 18:30-20:30
Location: 525AB

Lead Organizer: Bruno Cremella, SIL ECR representative, Laboratoire d'Oceanographie de Villefranche, Sorbonne Université, CNRS ([email protected])

Early career researchers (ECRs) in the aquatic sciences face many of the same challenges as those in the broader biological and environmental sciences. This early career stage - situated between completion of a terminal degree (such as a PhD) and the next professional step, including (academic tenure-track positions, government roles, or industry positions) - has become increasingly common and prolonged. Historically, after completing a PhD or similar terminal degree, researchers quickly settled in positions with long-term perspectives , but the current situation has led to a rise in the ECR demographics with sustained employment instability. There are several aquatic science societies that provide support for ECRs; however, this support could be improved by inter-organizational collaborations, which are currently lacking. Inter-organizational collaborations could facilitate knowledge transfer, dissemination of scientific and professional opportunities, search for collaborations, and collective representation on issues that broadly affect ECRs' in aquatic sciences. This town hall event will provide a space for ECR representatives of different aquatic science organizations to discuss pathways to create inter-organizational channels, platforms, and/or events that allow horizontal exchange of information about job opportunities, funding and financial support, career development, and collaboration requests. Such efforts could lead to the creation of a more formal alliance, allowing aquatic science ECRs to amplify their collective voice and gain representation in higher-level decision-making spaces.

TH03 Open-Access Publication of Your Manuscript – for Free: The L&O Letters Early Career Publication Honor

Date/Time: Wednesday, 13-May-26, 13:00-14:15
Location: 518C

Lead Organizer: Jessie Turner, Old Dominion University ([email protected])

The Limnology & Oceanography Letters Early Career Publication Honor, created and managed by ASLO's Raelyn Cole Editorial Fellows, provides early career researchers the opportunity to publish innovative, high-quality aquatic science research in Limnology & Oceanography Letters open-access and free of charge. This publication honor, given every other year, supports early career researchers who lack funding or have limited means to cover publication costs, and it also provides honorees with supportive, constructive reviews of their manuscripts. To date, the program has supported many recipients, helping to advance their research careers. Eligible applicants include students and postgraduates within 10 years of completing their terminal degree excluding career interruptions. Manuscripts must fall within the scope of Limnology & Oceanography Letters and meet the ASLO journal's high standards for scientific merit. In this town hall, the current Raelyn Cole Fellows will introduce the Early Career Publication Honor program, explain eligibility criteria and selection considerations, and provide details about the application process. The next call for applications will open in May 2026. This session is a great opportunity to learn how the Early Career Publication Honor can help you share your research with a broad audience and publish impactful work in a leading journal.

TH04 Reconnecting with One's Home Country

Date/Time: Wednesday, 13-May-26, 13:00-14:15
Location: 519A

Lead Organizer: Bianca Rodríguez-Cardona, International Institute of Tropical Forestry ([email protected])

Many early-career researchers (ECRs) face the difficult decision to leave their home country in search of educational or professional development opportunities. There are numerous reasons for moving abroad, whether from a lack of resources in their home country, serendipitous opportunities, or seeking new endeavors. Some ECRs choose to stay abroad while others yearn for the possibility of eventually returning home. In this town hall event, panelists will share their experiences of moving to a new country while maintaining connections in their home country, struggling to retain those connections, and/or returning to their home country after an extended period away. They will discuss their career paths, what led them to leave, and factors that led to the decision of returning home or staying abroad. Panelists will also reflect on the challenges and benefits of these life-changing transitions. Following the panel discussions small discussion groups will be formed, giving the attendees the opportunity for more in-depth conversations with the panelists. This town hall event will be co-hosted by the ASLO Early Career Committee (ECC) and the Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en limnologie (GRIL).