5th Fortaleza Austral Spring School

The 5^th Fortaleza Austral Spring School is a free international training course, organized in response to the need for a better understanding of the impact of pollution in marine ecosystems and coastal communities. The course will present a comprehensive overview of the problem and provide best practices and harmonized methodologies for developing research to quantify and assess the level of pollution as a response to incidents and disasters. The event is organized by the Postgraduate Program in Tropical Marine Sciences (PPGCMT) together with The Institute of Marine Sciences - Federal University of Ceará (LABOMAR-UFC), Brazil and the Atlantic International Research Centre (AIR Centre). In addition, the event has the collaboration of other postgraduate programs.

Two main topics will be the focus of the school:

Day 1:  Fate and Impact of plastics in Marine Ecosystems. From the land to the sea

Day 2: Oil Spill Investigation and Impacts in Marine Ecosystems

What are the event goals? By the end of this training school, participants will:

• Understand the impacts of plastic and oil on the marine environment and coastal communities
• Enhance their technical standards for sampling and analysis of plastic and oil in the environment
• Identify current issues and global challenges on plastic and oil in the environment
• Raise awareness of marine conservation and sustainable resource management
• Obtain new knowledge of the topic covered

Who is this Training school for? The 5^th Fortaleza austral spring school is designed for a range of stakeholders, but will greatly benefit:

• Undergraduate and graduate students
• Maritime professionals
• Plastic industry professionals
• Oil industry professionals
• Senior researchers interested in updates
• Legal managers, policy-makers, representatives of the non-governmental organizations, and social entities
• Administrators and civil servants faced with marine environment agenda

How will this Training school be presented? Due to the unpredictable sanitary restrictions of the Coronavirus disease situation, the school is organized as a hybrid event that combines both online (Sessions 1 and 2, and the Side Event - Oral Presentations) and in person (Students Training: Field Activity and Laboratory Practice) participation experiences, providing opportunities for broad participation. At the moment it is possible to accept a maximum of 30 participants in person.

Find out more: www.ppgcmt.ufc.br and www.instagram.com/ppgcmt.ufc