Issue 43: The Biogeochemical Exchange Processes at Sea-Ice Interfaces (BEPSII) Research Community Nurturing Early-career Scientists: Exchange Awards and Field School

The SOLAS Event Report Issue 43 reports on the Biogeochemical Exchange Processes at Sea-Ice Interfaces (BEPSII) early-career scientists' exchange programme and field school held from 28 February to 9 March 2026 at Saroma-ko Lagoon, Japan

The exchange programme supports short collaborative visits between institutions, enabling participants to learn new techniques, develop joint experiments, and exchange knowledge. In 2025, the second BEPSII exchange programme was completed. Jointly organised by BEPSII, Cryosphere and Atmospheric Chemistry (CATCH; another SOLAS-sponsored activity) and Coupling of ocean-ice-atmosphere processes: from sea-ice biogeochemistry to aerosols and Clouds (CIce2Clouds; SCOR Working Group #163), the  Saroma Sea-Ice School 2026 aimed to build capacity for sustaining multidisciplinary science at the ocean–ice–snow–atmosphere interface. Twenty-nine students from 17 countries, selected from 208 applications, attended the school to learn about ocean, sea-ice, and atmospheric science through lectures, field and laboratory work, and modelling exercises.