With support from the Julia R. Brown Foundation, Scripps PhD student Andrea Rodriguez-Marin Freudmann traveled to Glasgow to present her research poster on how internal waves shape cross‑ and along‑shore dynamics of the inner shelf. To supplement her experience at the 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, she traveled to the British National Oceanography Centre in the UK and IFREMER in France. The conference exposed her to emerging technologies such as distributed acoustic sensing and new insights into coastal wave physics, while also sparking conversations about post‑doc opportunities in France and Germany. These scientific and professional connections are already shaping the final year of her PhD and her future career path.
I received funds from the Julia R. Brown foundation in order to attend the 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) in Glasgow, Scotland. The goal of the trip was to present my work, to learn about related work, and to meet European scientists who would be attending. I supplemented the conference by visiting the Liverpool (United Kingdom) location of the British National Oceanography Centre beforehand, and by visiting and presenting my work at the Brest (France) location of IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer) afterward. OSM took place from Sunday February 22nd to Friday February 27th, and included oral sessions, poster sessions, and keynote presentations.
Over the course of the conference I attended sessions that included talks on internal and surface gravity waves, transport of tracers, autonomous ocean vehicles, estuarine saltwater intrusions, exchanges between the shelf and the deep ocean, and more. I learned about emerging technologies such as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), in which scientists lay out fiber optic cables across the sea floor (or across ice sheets) and detect waves based on strain changes throughout the cable. I learned about dynamics that I had not previously considered, such as barotropic tides in the English Channel that are strong enough to mix the entire 30-meter water column through just bottom friction. I learned about research done in the Mediterranean, in the Bay of Biscay, and in other regions that I had not known much about prior to the conference.
In addition to attending sessions, I also presented my poster on the internal surf zone: how internal waves affect the cross- and along-shore dynamics of the inner shelf. I received very positive feedback from professors and other students alike. Most found the work convincing and were generally in favour of my interpretations of the data. I did receive some suggestions, for example that I examine the difference between depth-averaged and depth-varying dynamics further, and that I provide an explanation for how the model is able to resolve sea-surface set up. I also had some early career graduate students ask me about my methodology, as they were interested in incorporating it into their own work.
I feel that my greatest takeaways from the experience on a scientific level were a) clarification of physics that I already knew but had misconceptions about, and b) new knowledge about areas that I had not been previously exposed to. In terms of improving my existing understanding, I feel I have a better grasp on the difference between lagrangian, eulerian and stokes velocities, and how they interact when it comes to advection. I also have a better grasp on the structure and propagation of coastally trapped waves, which I had previously understood very loosely. New topics I learned about included technology, such as DAS and new types of autonomous floats, as well as science, for example estuarine physics contributing to salt or microplastic accumulation.
I also used the conference as an opportunity to learn more about the kind of science that is being done at European institutions, and how their system works. In meeting people there and having conversations with them I learned about potential opportunities for postdoctoral positions, and what paths I could take to work there. I have begun to give serious consideration to applying for positions in France or Germany and have started to reach out to PIs who may be interested in working with me.
Overall I am extremely grateful to have had this experience, and I learned a lot both scientifically and professionally. I hope that the connections I made before, during and after the conference will help me with my academic career, and I was exposed to new types of research that I am interested in learning more about. As I am in the last year of my PhD, this opportunity to present my work and meet potential future employers and collaborators was invaluable, and I will make the most of it.
Blog content and images provided by Andrea Rodriguez-Marin Freudmann – thank you!
Hannah Walker also presented her research at the 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow. Read about Hannah’s experience here.