The AzSS – Azores Summer School follows the need and ambition to create a complete, high-quality multidisciplinary course on Marine Island (Palaeo)Biogeography, gathering internationally recognized experts to present state-of-the-art knowledge in diverse areas. Over the past two decades, multidisciplinary studies on recent and fossil coastal marine Macaronesian taxa have culminated in the publication of an in depth marine biogeographic theory, contributing to a better understanding of the evolutionary processes and patterns in marine groups inhabiting these remote regions.
The first edition of the AzSS will be held at Santa Maria Island (Azores Archipelago, Portugal) from 6 to 19 of August, 2021, aiming to grow in the next years into the most complete and unique course on Marine Island (Palaeo)Biogeography worldwide. This is a unique opportunity to enhance proliferous discussions on island ontogeny, global marine biodiversity patterns, and island marine biogeography among enthusiastic researchers. For 12 days, participants will experience life at the oldest island of the Azores and be able to observe in loco the results of more than 20 years of fieldwork at Santa Maria. The AzSS 2021 integrates lectures, symposia, and field trips, benefiting from the extraordinary geological diversity of the island and expertise of the invited lecturers. The course, conducted by a panel of international senior scientists, widely recognised on their fields of expertise and vibrant early-career researchers, will address multiple areas of knowledge, such as the geological evolution of islands, study of past organisms and environments, statistical analyses of collected data, evolutionary processes and patterns, and will finish with the historical and contemporary forces shaping the marine biodiversity in remote volcanic oceanic archipelagos. The main goal of the AzSS is to provide the participants outstanding tools and unconventional knowledge from several research areas which, puzzled together, will allow for interpretation of large and fine-scale marine biogeographic processes and patterns in these extraordinary insular systems.
PROGRAMME
Marine (palaeo)biogeography: patterns and processes; speciation; dispersal and evolutionary consequences; Extinction and extirpation; ecology and biodiversity of seamounts; Statistical applications
Geology: Tectonics; Stratigraphy; Island Volcanism; Ancient and recent seamounts and oceanic islands; Sedimentary processes; Applied geochemistry
Palaeo-sciences: Paleoceanography & Paleoclimate; Palaeoecology; Palaeontology; Taphonomy and Ichnology; Geodiversity and Geoheritage; Fossil Marine Taxa
SCHEDULE
Day 1
14:30-17:45 | Arrival and registration
20-21:30 | Welcome Party and Social Networking
Day 2
09:00-11:00 | Tectonics
11:15-13:15 | Seamounts: ecology and biodiversity
14:30-16:30 | Extinction and extirpation: the impact of glacial/interglacial cycles
16:45-17:45 | Dispersal in the marine realm: evolutionary consequences
Day 3
09:00-13:15 | Seamounts and sediments around the Azores islands
14:30-17:45 | Island Volcanism
Day 4
09:00-13:15 | Submarine morphology of ocean island volcanoes
14:30-17:45 | Applied geochemistry and dating methods
Day 5
09:00-11:00 | Formation and geological evolution of ancient seamounts and oceanic islands
11:15-13:15 | The stratigraphy of the Anthropocene
14:30-17:45 | Geodiversity and Geoheritage
Day 6
09:00-11:00 | Paleoceanography & Paleoclimate
11:15-13:15 | Taphonomy
14:30-17:45 | Ichnology
Day 7
09:00-17:45 | Visit to the geologic and biological highlights of Santa Maria Island
Day 8
09:00-13:15 | Palaeoecology of rocky shores
14:30-16:30 | Fossil Rhodoliths and Bryozoa
16:45-17:45 |Fossil Mollusca and Crustacea
Day 9
09:00-11:00 | Fossil Echinodermata
11:15-13:15 | Fossil Vertebrates
14:30-17:45 | Statistical applications for biological field data
Day 10
09:00-13:15 | Biogeography: patterns and processes
14:30-17:45 | Speciation in the marine realm
Day 11
09:00-11:00 | Palaeontology: Concepts and methods
11:15-13:15/14:30-16:30 | Sedimentary geology
16:45-17:45 | Carbonate sedimentary processes
Day 12
09:00-13:15 | Geological evolution of oceanic islands
14:30-17:45 | Marine (palaeo)biogeography
Day 13
09:00-17:45 | Marine (palaeo)biogeography
Day 14
09:00-17:45 | Visit to the geologic and biological highlights of Santa Maria Island
COURSE INSTRUCTORS
Adán Pérez-García | National Distance Education University, Spain
Adriano Pimentel | IVAR, University of the Azores, São Miguel, Portugal
Alfred Uchman | Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
Ana Cristina Rebelo | SMNS – Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Antje Voelker | Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Björn Berning | Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Austria
David Buchs | School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Jan Zalasiewicz | University of Leicester, United Kingdom
João Duarte | Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
José Brilha | Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Minho, Portugal
Markes E. Johnson | Williams College, U.S.A.
Matúš Hyžný | Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
Michael W. Rasser | Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History, Germany
Neil Mitchell | Manchester University, United Kingdom
Patrícia Madeira | MPB, CIBIO-Açores, University of the Azores, São Miguel, Portugal
Pedro Moterroso | CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Ricardo S. Ramalho | School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Rita Castilho | Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Rui Quartau | Instituto Hidrográfico, Lisboa, Portugal
Sérgio P. Ávila | MPB, CIBIO-Açores, University of the Azores, São Miguel, Portugal
Sidney Hemming | Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, U.S.A.
Telmo Morato | OKEANOS, University of the Azores, Faial, Portugal
INTENDED AUDIENCE
The course will be open to a maximum number of 35 participants.
Pre-requisites: Research interests in insular ecosystems is a must. A background in Biogeography is desirable but not an impediment.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Applicants will be selected and admitted to the Azores Summer School on the basis of a short curriculum vitae which clearly states your background to be sent along with the application form.
We strongly suggest BIODIV applicants and USA students to apply for FLAD grants.
FLAD grants
a) 15 scholarships for BIODIV students (Porto University and Lisbon University) funded by FLAD-Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, which include all expenses related with the hotel at Santa Maria Island (Azores) – double room at the 4-star Hotel Santa Maria; https://www.hotel-santamaria.pt/ – as well as the cost of the flight from mainland Portugal (Porto or Lisbon) to Santa Maria Island.
b) 6 scholarships for USA students funded by FLAD-Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, which include all expenses related with the hotel at Santa Maria Island (Azores) – double room at the 4-star Hotel Santa Maria; https://www.hotel-santamaria.pt/ – as well as the cost of the flight from Boston to Santa Maria Island.
Breakfast and coffee-breaks are also included. Please note that lunch and dinner are not included in the FLAD scholarships. The price for lunch at the Hotel Santa Maria will be reduced to 12.50€ for all Azores Summer School 2021 participants.
Priority will be given to:
• 1st year and other PhD students attending the BIODIV Doctoral Program;
• PhD students attending other courses;
• Other post-graduate students and researchers.
REGISTRATION
(1) 50€ (BIODIV or USA PhD students with a FLAD grant) – fee does not include lunch and dinner.
(2) 650 € (other PhD/MSc students with accommodation in double room) | 900 € (Senior researchers/academic with accommodation in double room) - fee does not include flights to Santa Maria, lunch, and dinner.
(3) 500 € (other PhD/MSc students) | 800 € (Senior researchers/academic) - fee does not include flights to Santa Maria, accommodation, lunch, and dinner.
The fee includes: lectures and lecture notes; coffee breaks; excursions; one-day trip by boat around the island to visit the fossiliferous outcrops, which are best accessible by boat; and welcome reception.
Registration must be done by filling an application form available here. Filled Application Forms must be submitted to the following e mails:
Ana Cristina Rebelo, MSc, PhD (E-mail: acfurtadorebelo@gmail.com)
Lara Baptista, MSc, PhD student (E-mail: laracbaptista@hotmail.com)
Registration deadline: July 1, 2021
All applicants will be notified of the decision by July 15, 2021.
After receiving the Acceptance Letter, admitted participants will have to confirm their participation by payment of the registration fee by July 25, 2021.
After payment of the registration fee participants will be provided with lecture-related material and pre-course readings. In case of withdrawal after July 30, no registration fee is refunded.
