By Max Desservettaz, University of Wollongong, Australia – iCACGP member.
On September 25, 2025, the global atmospheric science community came together for the second IGAC-iCACGP Early Career Researcher (ECR) Online Conference. Building on the success of the inaugural 2023 event, this year’s conference provided a vibrant, accessible, and truly global platform for the next generation of scientists to connect, share their research, and develop new skills. Run continuously over 19 hours and spanning three major regional sessions (Asia/Oceania, Africa/Europe/Middle East, and the Americas), the conference successfully lowered geographical and financial barriers, welcoming over 750 registered attendees and featuring 208 poster presentations.
The event was the culmination of nearly a year of planning by a dedicated, diverse, and entirely volunteer-led organizing committee of 22 ECRs from 12 different countries. This global team worked tirelessly across time zones to coordinate everything from fundraising and speaker invitations to social media campaigns and the development of a complex virtual venue. Their collective effort was a testament to the community-driven spirit of IGAC, creating an event built by ECRs, for ECRs.
This collaborative spirit was mirrored by the incredible support from the broader IGAC and iCACGP communities. We are immensely grateful to the mid- and senior-career scientists who volunteered their time to judge posters and participate in our networking sessions, providing invaluable mentorship. Our generous sponsors: the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the European Space Agency (ESA), Future Earth, the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (AMS-ECMWF), and MDPI & CSIRO publishers provided the crucial funding for the needed licenses to run the event, and for the poster prize – a cornerstone of the event.
Highlights from a 24-Hour Celebration of Science
The conference was a whirlwind of activity, hosted on the interactive Gather Town platform. The virtual venue, complete with a plenary hall, poster rooms, and networking spaces, allowed for both structured sessions and spontaneous interactions.
Each of the three regional blocks featured highlight talks from a total of nine outstanding ECR speakers, who shared cutting-edge research on topics ranging from Arctic sea ice prediction to the atmospheric consequences of Amazon biomass burning. Interactive icebreaker sessions and dedicated networking events connected hundreds of ECRs with peers and senior scientists in lively, small-group discussions.
A series of “Skills Workshops,” organized in partnership with the WCRP Academy, ATMO-ACCESS, and Microsoft, provided practical training on crucial topics like the use of AI in climate science, virtual training tools, and leveraging Microsoft Copilot for academic research.
The heart of the conference was the two joint poster sessions, which saw a peak of over 180 attendees simultaneously exploring the virtual poster hall. The quality and breadth of the research on display were truly inspiring.
Announcing the 2025 Poster Prize Winners
After a rigorous two-stage judging process, we are thrilled to announce the six winners of the Best Poster Prize. Each winner receives full funding to attend the iCACGP-IGAC 2026 Science Conference in Crete, Greece.
Congratulations to:
- Hannah Kessenich, University of Otago, New Zealand (Also awarded the ESA/Future Earth Prize)
- Vasu Singh, IIT Delhi, India
- Biplob Dey, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
- Mishka Rawatlal, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Stephanie Elkins, MIT, USA
- Pablo Lichtig, National Commission for Atomic Energy, Argentina
A Personal Reflection
As the lead organizer for this conference, this event marks the culmination of a decade-long journey within the IGAC community. I attended my first IGAC conference in 2014 in Natal, Brazil, as a nervous first-year PhD student. That experience opened my eyes to the global and collaborative nature of our field. Four years later, at the 2018 conference in Takamatsu, Japan, I had the opportunity to join the ECR conference program and short course organizing committee, a role that ignited a passion for creating opportunities for my peers. This led to my involvement as co-chair, with Emily Matthews, of the newly established IGAC-iCACGP ECR Scientific Steering Committee from 2023-2024, a position that allowed me to help shape the very ECR community that had supported me, and organize the first ECR conference 2 years ago.
Leading this conference feels like coming full circle. It has been an immense privilege to work alongside such talented and dedicated groups of ECRs to build this platform. As I now “retire” from the ECR community, I am excited to continue supporting the next generation from my new position on the iCACGP commission and through my continued involvement in IGAC activities. I have seen firsthand how this community nurtures its young scientists, and I look forward to contributing to that legacy for years to come.Recordings of the highlight talks and skills workshops are available on the IGAC ECR website: https://www.ecr-igac-icacgp.org/