APECS Netherlands

Association of Polar Early Career Scientists

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Who are we?

Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among current and future polar enthusiasts.

APECS Netherlands is the Dutch national committee of the Association of Polar Early Career scientists (APECS): an international and interdisciplinary organization for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early faculty members, educators and others with interests in Polar Regions and the wider cryosphere.

Supporting early career polar researchers, educators, and others interested in polar regions and the wider cryosphere

Education and awareness

Education and outreach to promote public understanding and awareness of polar research and the cryosphere.

Career support

Professional development and career support for early career polar researchers and educators.

International Collaboration

International and interdisciplinary networking and collaboration.

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❄️ Fresh Tracks #4: Meet Marieke Ten Berge

Marieke is an award-winning illustrator from the Netherlands, best known for her beautifully crafted books Rana, Zuid, and Noord.

From glacier studies and sea ice diaries to children’s books and large-scale printmaking, Marieke explores how storytelling can help people connect with some of the planet’s most rapidly changing environments.

As Marieke puts it, illustration can do something facts alone cannot: help people experience the beauty, fragility, and wonder of places they may never visit themselves.

Visit her website: https://marieketenberge.nl

Research Highlight: How Antarctica shapes the world 🌎

34 million years ago, cycles of Antarctic ice growth impacted ocean life in the subtropics. Swipe to learn how Earth's climate is more interconnected than we thought 💡

Have you ever wondered who’s volunteering their time behind the scenes to bring you all the fresh news and polar content? Guess no more.

The team behind the scenes comes from various backgrounds but one thing we all have in common is our passion for the polar regions:

•⁠ ⁠Youri Renkema, an MSc Forest & Nature Conservation student with a background in ecology, now shifting his focus toward policy, especially polar policymaking, where he hopes to build his future.

•⁠ ⁠Florine Kooij, a PhD candidate researching trace metal micronutrients in the waters of the Antarctic continental shelf.

•⁠ ⁠Lydia Cornu is currently pursuing a PhD in Wildlife Ecology & Conservation at Wageningen University, and works as a field assistant for Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring.

•⁠ ⁠Sterre Koops is a climate change adaptation researcher currently affiliated with the research group ‘Climate Adaptation’ at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen. She is also a PhD candidate at the Arctic Centre of the University of Groningen.

•⁠ ⁠Janne Bruhns, an MSc student in Climate Studies at Wageningen University & Research, specializing in Sustainable Development Diplomacy

•⁠ ⁠Iris Gomez Sanchis, an AdTech professional shifting her career focus towards polar governance and policy.

•⁠ ⁠Ruth Kiely is a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, focusing on carbon mobilisation in terrestrial and aquatic systems in Greenland

📢 We want to feature YOUR work!
APECS NL members: Share your research, fieldwork, and projects with us.

Publications? ✅
Fieldwork stories? ✅
Project updates? ✅
SciComm? ✅

Basically, anything Polar ❄️🐧

Get in touch anytime:
📧 info@apecsnetherlands.nl
📩 DM us

How much do you know about the auroras? 🌌

@apecs_brasil created this beautiful series explaining the Northern and Southern Lights. We've translated it to share with you!

Seasonal note: As the Arctic enters midnight sun season, Aurora Borealis viewing fades ☀️ But in the Southern Hemisphere, winter is coming, perfect timing for Aurora Australis over Antarctica ❄️

Beyond the beauty:
Auroras are a crucial scientific tool. They reveal real-time interactions between solar wind, Earth's magnetic field, and our upper atmosphere, helping us understand space weather, magnetosphere dynamics, and how solar activity affects satellites and technology.

Swipe to learn how these lights form and what creates their stunning colors ✨

🇧🇷🤝
#Aurora #NorthernLights #SouthernLights #PolarScience

Yes, we DO care! Happy 100th Birthday Sir David Attenborough. You inspire young researchers, scientists, students, creators and communicators like us every day. Thank you for everything you have done to advocate for this planet and its biodiversity. Thank you for being a voice of hope. On behalf of everyone at APECS NL, we wish you a very happy birthday💙🦭❄️🐻‍❄️🥳

Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s NL Polar Day in Amersfoort! 💙🐻‍❄️❄️By all accounts, it was a
very successful day with sold-out attendance, 8 plenary talks, 3 parallel sessions, a brainstorming event
to prepare for the upcoming International Polar Year, a sneak-peek of (@kadirvanlohuizen ) Kadir van Lohuizen’s new
documentary, and of course, the APECS NL Pub Quiz to round off a sunny day in the Mariënhof Amersfoort! (@marienhofamersfoort ). A huge thanks to Mei Nelissen (@meinelissen) for chairing!

We were so happy to promote the work of some Netherlands-based ERCs, who pitched their posters,
and some who presented their work during the parallel session chaired by APECS NL:
Brandon van Schaik, Marte Hofsteenge, Daniëlle Kraak and Katja Peijnenburg, Olya Ievleva, and Renato Borras-Chavez (@renatoborras, @martesprints, @xo_olly_ox)

It was also a huge day for us at APECS Netherlands, since it was the physical launch for Tales from the
Poles! This book was a joint project between APECS NL and UKPN (@ukpolarnetwork ) with the support of (@apecs.polar) and was edited by (@youri_r_, @nadiafrontier)
Youri Renkema , Saule Akhmetkaliyeva, and Nadia Frontier. We were delighted to give the first copy to Prof. dr. Petra Heil from the British Antarctic Survey @britishantarcticsurvey).
Thank you to everyone who supported the project by purchasing a copy.

Speaking of storytelling, congratulations to the winners of our Polar Postcards competition! Their
postcards were printed and available to all attendees for free at our stand. And a big thank you to
everyone who participated in the competition - you made the task of selecting winners extra difficult.

Last but not least, thank you to everyone who attended our APECS NL pub quiz!
❄️🦭💙
The NL Polar Day was organised by the NWO Polar Programme, APECS NL, in collaboration with
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. (@minbz, @renno_hokwerda).
Photo credits: @tomdoms (Copyright NWO), @youri_r_ Youri Renkema & Florine Kooj

🦭❄️Fresh Tracks #3: Renato Borras❄️🦭

Traditionally, leopard seals have been described as solitary apex predators, meaning they are at the top of the food web and do not have natural predators, and are thought to live mainly in Antarctica. Renato and his colleagues wanted to test this idea.

Using drones, genetics and photo identification, Renato and his team study how individual leapord seals move and whether populations are linked across the Southern Hemisphere.

According to Renato „There is a saying that there are two kinds of people who go to Antarctica, those who go once and that is enough, and those who cannot stop trying to return. I am definitely and proudly in the second group.“

Read more about his exciting fieldwork and many trips to Antarctica in his Q&A above, and of course get excited for his presentation at the NL Polar Day!

The NL Polar Day is brought to you by the NWO in collaboration with APECS NL

🥁 Polar Quiz Friday is back, for the last round before the 2026 NL Polar Day 🥁

See you this Tuesday, April 21st. The Quiz will take place at Tuinzaal, De Marienhof, from 18:00-19:00. Drinks and snacks provided, hosted by yours truly 🫡

T-11 until the 2026 NL Polar Day!
For today's Polar Quiz Friday, we tackle Polar Geography in this 3-part question 🌋🌏

#APECS #PolarQuiz #NLPolarDay #PolarGeography #Antarctica

❄️ Fresh Tracks #2: Brandon van Schaik

What if Antarctica’s wind could power its own research stations? Brandon is working on exactly that and will be presenting this topic at NL Polar Day 2026.

Using field data + machine learning, he’s building the Antarctic Wind Atlas, helping make wind energy in Antarctica more accessible and reliable.

From Svalbard to Princess Elisabeth Station, his work connects science with real-world impact. Read more above ⬆️

❄️ Fresh Tracks: sharing the spotlight on early-career researchers shaping the future of polar science.

On our first edition of Fresh Tracks, meet Olga Ievleva:
Olga is based at the University of Groningen’s Arctic Centre (@rug_arctic) and recently returned from fieldwork in Nunavut, Canada.

Her work goes beyond data collection. Olga explores what it means to do research ethically in the Arctic: working with Indigenous communities, navigating research permits, and challenging extractive approaches to knowledge.

As she puts it: “I want to hand over as much control of the knowledge as possible to the owners.”

At NL Polar Day she’ll be presenting and sharing her perspective on research ethics, Indigenous knowledge, and how we as researchers can do better.

Stay tuned as we highlight more early-career researchers presenting this year at NL Polar Day, organised by the NWO (Dutch Research Council).

If you would like to nominate someone (or yourself!) to be featured on this series, email us at info@apecsnetherlands.nl

With only 1️⃣8️⃣ days to go until the 2026 NL Polar Day, we are bringing back Polar Quiz Friday to get you warmed up for the APECS NL pub quiz!

This week, brush up on your polar wildlife knowledge 🐻‍❄️

#APECSNL #PolarQuiz #NLPolarDay #ArcticWildlife #PolarBear

Physical copies of TALES FROM THE POLES will be available for the first time exclusively at NL Polar Day 2026 ❄️✨

Come by the APECS stand and say hi during the event if you’d like a copy! 👋

Alongside stories from polar researchers in the field, TALES FROM THE POLES includes some incredible photographs taken by scientists working in breathtaking locations. Take a sneak peek via the link in our bio for the e-book 🔗 📖

Thank you to everyone for your contributions, without you, the book would not have been possible.

Tales from the Poles is a collaboration between @ukpolarnetwork and @apecs_nl with the support of @apecs.polar

Antarctic microbes eat air for energy 🧊🔬

New research shows microbes in Antarctic soils generate energy by consuming hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the atmosphere, at temperatures as low as -20°C.

This process, called "aerotrophy," works year-round, even during the dark polar winter when photosynthesis is impossible. No sunlight needed. No liquid water required. Just air.

Plot twist: These microbes can function up to 75°C, which is far hotter than Antarctic soils ever get. As one researcher put it: "It's a bit like seeing a penguin thrive in a tropical jungle."

➡️ Why it matters:

These air-eating microbes might be the base of Antarctica's food chain, replacing photosynthesis as the primary producer in desert soils
They consume 82% of Earth's atmospheric hydrogen, a crucial part of the global hydrogen cycle
Climate change could boost their activity by 4-35%, affecting greenhouse gas levels

This is the first time scientists confirmed this process in the field, measuring it in real-time in Antarctica.

That’s right, the Polar PubQuiz is back! 🥳

Test your knowledge on everything polar and network with your fellow Polar Day attendees in a fun and relaxed evening to close out the NL Polar Day 2026! The quiz is hosted by us from APECS NL, but open to all Polar Day participants!

Don’t forget to register during the event at the registration desk. You can sign up solo or in pairs, from there, we want to mix people of various expertise across teams. The quiz will start around 18:00 in the Tuinzaal and we will provide drinks and snack!

We hope to see you there 😊🐻‍❄️❄️

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APECS Netherlands

Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among current and future polar enthusiasts.

Fresh tracks: Olga Ievleva

Fresh tracks: Brandon van Schaik

Fresh tracks: Renato Borras

Supporting early career polar researchers, educators, and others interested in polar regions and the wider cryosphere

Education and awareness

Career support

International Collaboration

Stay updated and informed – Follow us on our Socials

Instagram

LinkedIn

Connected with 10+ organisations

APECS International

APECS Belgium

APECS Germany

Willem Barentsz Pool Instituut – Groningen

IMAKA

Arctic Centre

SCAR

UK Polar Network

European Polar Board

International Arctic Science Committee

Scientific Expedition Edgeøya Svalbard – SEES

APECS International

APECS Belgium

APECS Germany

Willem Barentsz Pool Instituut – Groningen

SCAR

UK Polar Network

European Polar Board

International Arctic Science Committee

Scientific Expedition Edgeøya Svalbard – SEES

APECS International

APECS Belgium

APECS Germany

Willem Barentsz Pool Instituut – Groningen

IMAKA

Arctic Centre

SCAR

UK Polar Network

APECS Netherlands

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