Science in the sunshine: Pensoft’s month of European conferences

Pensoft participated in five conferences across Germany and Italy in September 2023.

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For the Pensoft team, September 2023 was a busy and exciting month filled with conferences. Travelling across Europe, they promoted journals, connected with the scientific community, and rewarded exceptional research with free article publications. 

Let’s take a look back at all the events of the past month.

Wildlife Research and Conservation 2023

Wildlife Research and Conservation 2023 took place in Berlin between the 9th and 11th of September. Jointly organised by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and WWF Germany, it was a fantastic event, featuring an exchange of ideas between wildlife scientists from different disciplines related to mammalian species.

Image showing the WRC2023 logo and two women promoting Pensoft at a conference.
Pensoft representatives Mrs. Boriana Ovcharova and Mrs. Anna Sapundzhieva, ready to greet attendees in the sun.

The conference looked at evolutionary adaptations from the perspective of behavioural ecology, reproduction biology, genetics, physiology, as well as nature conservation. It particularly focused on the pressing issues of wildlife research and species conservation in the context of global environmental change. Most of the ≈100 participants were young scientists from more than 30 countries.

The Pensoft team greeted fellow attendees with an exhibition stand and presented the conservation and ecology-focused journals Neobiota, Nature Conservation, One Ecosystem, and Biodiversity Data Journal. Pensoft also advocated for EuropaBon, who are designing an EU-wide framework for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services, and REST-COAST, whose mission is to provide the tools to restore environmental degradation of rivers and coasts. Within both European-funded initiatives, Pensoft is a key dissemination partner that contributes expertise in science communication, scholarly publishing, and the development of digital tools and platforms.

Man holding a certificate.
Joao Pedro Meireles posing with his Best Poster award.

Pensoft presented Joao Pedro Meireles from Utrecht University with the Best Poster Award for his research on pair compatibility in okapis, entitling him to a free publication in one of Pensoft’s open-access journals.

“My study looked at pair compatibility in the zoo breeding programme of Okapi. During breeding introductions, sometimes the male becomes aggressive towards the female and we decided to investigate the potential factors. We ran a survey among all zoos that house the species in Europe and we found that differences in husbandry were linked to the aggressiveness performed by the males.”

Joao Pedro Meireles, Utrecht University

GfÖ Annual Meeting 2023

From the 12th to 16th of September, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research hosted the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Leipzig, Germany. The meeting welcomed more than 1,100 participants from around the world, including scientists, policymakers, educators, and environmental enthusiasts.

This year’s meeting was held with the theme: “The future of biodiversity – overcoming barriers of taxa, realms and scales.” There was a particular emphasis on future challenges and opportunities facing biodiversity, and how to address and manage these in an interdisciplinary and integrative way. 

Woman standing beside man.
Mrs. Boriana Ovcharova (Pensoft) with Neobiota Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Ingolf Kühn.

Conference participants were welcomed at the Pensoft stand, where they could learn more about the projects EuropaBon and SELINA, which deal with biodiversity, ecosystem and natural capital topics. 

The Pensoft team took great pleasure in talking to attendees about their fantastic journals focused on ecology and biodiversity, including Food and Ecological Systems Modelling Journal, Neobiota, Nature Conservation, One Ecosystem, Vegetation Classification and Survey and Research Ideas and Outcomes, as well as meeting with authors, reviewers and editors.

European Conference on Ecological Modelling

Also in Leipzig, the European Conference on Ecological Modelling took place between the 4th and 8th of September. The event focused on the transformation of how societies deal with natural resources in a world where biodiversity and ecosystem services are at high risk. 

The ECEM 2023 continued a series of conferences launched by the European chapter of ISEM, the International Society for Ecological Modelling. ISEM promotes the international exchange of ideas, scientific results, and general knowledge in the areas of systems’ analysis and simulations in ecology, and the application of ecological modelling for natural resource management.

Pensoft presented its innovative journals in the field of ecology and modelling, such as Nature Conservation, Food and Ecological Systems Modelling Journal and Neobiota, as well as the projects PoshBee and B-GOOD, which aim to help beekeepers and support healthy bee populations where Pensoft acts as the dissemination partner.

The Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung team presented a poster on the Formal Model format and potential new MiDox formats, unique publication types that can be submitted to Pensoft’s Food and Ecological Modelling Journal.

118th Congress of the Italian Botanical Society

Three men sitting before a projector screen at a conference.
Speakers at the 118th Congress of the Italian Botanical Society.

Pensoft was proud to sponsor the 118th Congress of the Italian Botanical Society, which took place in Pisa, Italy from the 13th to 16th of September. Experts in various fields of Botany gathered to share their research on the following topics:

  • Molecular and cell biology
  • Taxonomy, systematics and evolution
  • Biodiversity
  • Environmental monitoring and policies
  • Biotechnology and applied botany
  • Ecology

Pensoft awarded Emma Cocco, University of Cagliari, and Lucrezia Laccetti, University of Naples Federico II, a free article publication in any of Pensoft’s journals related to botany.  Additionally, Silvia Cannucci, University of Siena, and Flavia Guzzi received the Italian Botanical Society’s support for publishing papers in Italian Botanist for their excellent research.

Four people at a certificate presentation.
Best poster award, presented by Pensoft.

94th Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft

Finally, between the 18th and 22nd of September, the 94th Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft was held in Jena, Germany. Pensoft couldn’t make it in person, but still made sure to showcase journals publishing papers in palaeontology, especially Zitteliana and Fossil Record. The international meeting was a great success, and focused on cutting-edge research from palaeobiology, palaeontology, geobiology and related subjects.

Journals promoted by Pensoft at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft.

Summer may be well and truly over, but as a new academic year begins, Pensoft looks forward to attending more conferences, rewarding more incredible research, and connecting with more of the scientific community. Thank you to everyone who contributed to or engaged with Pensoft’s open-access journals this year, and here’s to a successful final quarter of 2023.

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