On Going
Illustrated collage featuring landmarks and scientific themes associated with Bremen, Germany. On the left, a cutaway landscape shows a mountain with contour lines, rivers, mangroves, coastal boats, underwater currents, and buildings representing environmental and marine research. Behind it are stylized gray silhouettes of Bremen landmarks: the St. Petri Dom (cathedral), the Bremer Stadtmusikanten (statue of the Bremen Town Musicians), and the Universum science museum. To the right, a modern brown-and-glass building labeled “Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung” (Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research) stands prominently with a ZMT sign. Trees and simple terrain add context throughout the image.

TropEcS Symposium – Coupling Tropical Coastal Ecosystems to Earth System Models, Bremen | 22.09.2025 – 25.09.2025

Illustrated collage featuring landmarks and scientific themes associated with Bremen, Germany. On the left, a cutaway landscape shows a mountain with contour lines, rivers, mangroves, coastal boats, underwater currents, and buildings representing environmental and marine research. Behind it are stylized gray silhouettes of Bremen landmarks: the St. Petri Dom (cathedral), the Bremer Stadtmusikanten (statue of the Bremen Town Musicians), and the Universum science museum. To the right, a modern brown-and-glass building labeled “Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung” (Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research) stands prominently with a ZMT sign. Trees and simple terrain add context throughout the image.

The TropEcS Symposium brings together international experts in Earth System Modelling (ESM) to address a growing scientific challenge: how to better represent tropical coastal ecosystems in comprehensive climate and Earth system frameworks. Supported by new funding from state and federal governments, ZMT is expanding its modelling capacities and seeks to position itself at the forefront of this effort.

Over three days, participants will evaluate existing ESM platforms, identify key socio-ecological processes to be integrated, and define modelling strategies relevant to coastal dynamics, biosphere interactions, and human dimensions. The symposium will foster collaborations with leading research institutions worldwide and initiate a shared scientific agenda for TropEcS.

Provisional Agenda of the TropEcS Symposium – Available for Download


Catalyst Talk: Bjorn Stevens (Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Germany)
Catalyst Talk: Veronika Eyring (DLR & University of Bremen, Germany)

Keynote: Yu-Heng Tseng (NTU, Taiwan)

Keynote: Moninya Roughan (University of New South Wales, Australia)
Keynote: Edward Gross (GEI Consultants, USA)
Keynote: Erma Yulihastin (BRIN, Indonesia)
Keynote: Julia Moriarty (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
Keynote: Shardul Agrawala (OECD, France)

 

Schedule Highlights:

  • Icebreaker (22.09.)
    Universum® Bremen, Wiener Straße 1a
    Networking Reception 

    Musical performance by Biyotob and science quiz with Tom & Darren.

  • Strengths and Limitations of Existing Earth System Models (23.09.)

    ATLANTIC Hotel Universum, Wiener Straße 4
    A comparative review of global and regional Earth System Models, focusing on model architecture, scalability, and their capacity to represent tropical coastal systems.

  • Coupling Components (24.09.)
    ATLANTIC Hotel Universum, Wiener Straße 4
    Identifying key components to integrate - ocean, atmosphere, land, ecosystems, and biogeochemistry - with emphasis on TropEcS priorities: coastal dynamics, land-sea fluxes, biosphere interactions, and marine food systems.

  • Spatio-Temporal Scales and Socio-Economic Perspectives (25.09.)
    Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Fahrenheitstraße 6
    Determining appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions. Integrating socio-economic processes and collaborative governance structures.

ZMT will prepare a background paper ahead of the symposium. Speakers and participants will be invited to contribute to a collaborative perspective defining long-term priorities for modelling tropical coasts.
TropEcS Symposium Organization Team

Prof. Jan Härter, Maxime Colin, Tim Rixen,
Gabriela Garcia, Alexandra Bika, Estradivari,
Andrea Daschner, Ulla Tiedemann,
Julian Lilkendey & Prof. Raimund Bleischwitz
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Contacts

  • Dr. Julian Lilkendey
    TropEcS Symposium Organization Team
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    Details