BIOGEOMON 2026 Workshops
Join a Workshop at BIOGEOMON 2026!
Don’t miss the chance to dive deep into hands-on learning and interactive discussions. Spots are limited, so secure your place now!
How to Register: Contact the host listed for each workshop to sign up.
Workshop 1:
Introduction to Complexity Science Tools for Biogeochemists
Friday, June 12,9:00 am - 11: 30 am (with a 10-minute break included).
Biogeochemists, by definition, work with complex systems which include not only environmental elements and interactions, but also social and economic issues. In designing and conducting scientific activities and effective practical interventions, such systems should be understood as well as possible. Therefore, proper sensemaking approaches are needed that are relatively flexible and adaptable to dynamic situations. One such approach is systems thinking, which offers tools for better understanding interactions and dynamics in complex systems and for designing effective interventions. Another is a Cynefin® framework, initially designed for business purposes, but adaptable to academic life and work. During these workshops, both approaches, along with dedicated methodologies, will be introduced, and their elements will be tested hands-on. The workshops will use traditional participatory methods and provide participants with a universal set of tools for addressing system problems.
Register via Google Form: https://forms.gle/fhjbkL2SWbtDdipHA
Contact the host to register at m.metrak@uw.edu.pl
Monika Mętrak Ph.D., Biological and Chemical Research Centre and Faculty of Biology of the University of Warsaw
Workshop 2:
The Sävar Rising Coastline Mire Chronosequence: Lessons Learned and Future Possibilities
Friday, June 12, 08.30 - 16:00 including a three-hour field excursion to examples of the young, intermediate and old mires.
Venue: SLU Umeå, Aspen
Register for this workshop by sending an e-mail to kevin.bishop@slu.se
There is no charge to participate in the workshop, including lunch
BIOGEOMON 2026 will gather biogeochemists from around the world for four days in June. While that might be enough for some people, the Sävar Rising Coastline Mire Chronosequence (SMC) starts just half an hour from the conference venue. Mires started forming on the Chronosequence thousands of years ago, but others were only got started during the past century. The differences in age lead to gradients in mire trophic status. Over a decade of research on this chronosequence has resulted in a number of exciting papers, with more to come, including those related to carbon and mercury cycling. Understanding these systems depends critically on accurate peat dating. Multiple data approaches (14C, 210Pb, soot particles) applied across the chronosequence are providing new insights into mire development and biogeochemical processes, as well as the dating of peatlands.
The workshop will be a chance to get up to date with the latest results and ongoing research. We will begin with two hours at SLU Umeå with short presentations and a coffee break (08:30-10:45). We will then drive out to visit a younger and an older mire site along the age/trophic gradient. The excursion in rented vans will take three hours (11:00-14:00) and include a sandwich lunch in the field. When we return the discussion will continue until we are satisfied, or we reach 16:00 – whichever comes first. At 16:00, the Department of Forest Ecology and Management will be firing up a barbecue where workshop participants are welcome. For participants with time constraints, several convenient points are built into the program where it is easy to leave.
08:30–10:30 | Lecture Hall P.O. Bäckström
Ten-minute presentations + 5 minutes for questions
08:30 – Eeva-Stiina Tuittila
Uplifting Coast of the Bothnian Bay as a Natural Laboratory for Peatland Development
08:45 – Jelmer Nijp
Elastic storativity and groundwater along the chronosequence
09:00 – Koffi Dodji Noumonvi
The Hummock–Hollow–Lawn (HuHoLa) mire microtopography mapping framework
09:15 – Mike Waddington
What can chronosequence water table dynamics tell us about peatland resilience?
09:30 – Break (stretch)
09:40 – Carolina Olid
Overcoming the challenges of dating peat profiles
09:55 – Betty Ehnvall
Nutrients and other controls on mire carbon accumulation
10:10 – Chuxian Li & Kevin Bishop
What the chronosequence is telling us about the mobility/stability of mercury pollution in peatlands
Register for this workshop by sending an e-mail to kevin.bishop@slu.se
Workshop 3:
Precision Eco-Hydrology: Monitoring Tree Water Dynamics Under Extreme Weather
This workshop explores the cutting-edge methods used to monitor water movement and storage within forest ecosystems. Drawing on research from the BorealScat, Flakaliden and Tonnersjöheden sites in Sweden to agroforestry systems in Rwanda, participants will delve into the physiological and environmental drivers of tree water transport. The session focuses on the integration of high-resolution sensors—including stem water content, sap flow, and stem water potential—with robust data logging infrastructure. Attendees will get a wide overview on how to design, program, and deploy research-grade monitoring stations to capture the "pulse" of a forest in response to a changing climate.
Contact host to register: Jose.Lopez@slu.se
Workshop 4:
Bubbles in freshwater biogeochemistry: a brainstorming workshop
Bubbles are ubiquitous in freshwaters, yet their biogeochemical role is often reduced to gas exchange. Beyond this, bubbles can scavenge and transport particulate, colloidal, and surface-active materials, including e.g. microorganisms, organic matter, and contaminants, mediating vertical fluxes and air–water interactions. They may also influence chemical reactions and microbial activity, with potential consequences for biogeochemical processes. This workshop invites participants to rethink the roles of bubbles in freshwater systems through an interactive brainstorming session. We aim to identify key knowledge gaps, develop new research questions, and stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration across biogeosciences.
Contact host to register: marcus.klaus@slu.se
Workshop 5:
Long-term forest field experiments - restructuring and streamlining
Friday, June 12, 9:00 am - 12: 00 am.
This will be a hybrid meeting allowing for participation both in the meeting room and on-line.
Long-term field experiments have since long played an important role in both basic and applied forest research. In Sweden, the oldest ones were established in 1902. The portfolio of long-term experiments belonging to the Faculty of Forest Sciences at SLU include app. 2000 single experiments. They are financed by faculty fundings and/or by external research funds. Standard measurement program normally includes tree and plot variables, damage assessments, site characteristics and vegetation surveys. Examples of research topics included are silviculture, growth &yield, genetics, forest ecology, etc.
This workshop will focus on how to manage and plan long-term forest experiments to meet the demands for data support in future forest research. Two main questions will be discussed:
1. How can existing standard measurement programs be extended with new measurement and sampling programs to make the experiments more useful for new research topics in the future?
2. How can low priority experiments be converted/transferred into new experiments allowing them to be used for answering new research questions beyond the ones they originally were intended for?
Depending on the number of participants, the workshop may be ended with a shorter excursion to a neighboring long-term field experiment.
Contact host to register: ulf.johansson@slu.se