Claire Browne from Goatstown, Dublin, was one of five Irish second-level students who won a trip to Portugal to a young marine scientists conference and the Expo '98 trade fair recently. Claire had written an essay on zebra mussels for a science writers' competition.
Shiela Duggan from Ballybrack, Co Dublin, a pupil at Rathdown School, Glenageary, Co Dublin, entered an experiment demonstrating the danger of the savage seas for the ESAT Young Scientists exhibition and Catherine Robinson, Sandra Hamilton Arlene Beaney from St Catherine's School, Killybegs, Co Donegal, assembled a very professional poster and leaflet display for the International Year of the Ocean. All three competitions were co-sponsored by the Marine Institute.
This is Claire's report on the visit:
After our arrival in Lisbon, armed with a camcorder, we enjoyed a buffet and jazz evening in the Epal Water Museum. There we had an opportunity to meet Irish participants in the Sea and Space competition from Blackrock, Dublin.
Socialising and meeting other participants was a brilliant aspect of the week. During our four-day stay, we were accommodated in bungalows at Camping '98. Different nationalities shared the bungalows, fostering friendships. The ease with which many of our European peers could converse in English was astounding.
Saturday morning was taken up with a technical session in advance of the presentations. In the afternoon, participants from 11 European countries spent 20 minutes describing projects they had undertaken on topics as diverse as global warming and Viking navigation.
The Irish project, entitled One Earth, One Life, One Ocean, focused on Killybegs, Co Donegal, and the economic importance of marine resources to the town. On Saturday evening, Gillian Markey and Dymphna Lynch, our supervisors from the Marine Institute took us on a tour of Lisbon, followed by dinner in a local restaurant with the Welsh and Portuguese teams. The craic was mighty.
A scientific conference dominated Sunday morning. Eminent scientists discussed research papers on topics such as The Mediterranean - A Sea for the Future and Exploring Ice and Oceans of the High North - Research with Ships and Computers.
Sunday afternoon was our first opportunity to visit Expo '98. It's impossible to describe in this short article the scale and magic of Expo. Perhaps the camcorder will do it justice.
At the EU pavilion on the Vasco da Gama tower, we walked through a simulated minefield amd later visited the pavilions of different countries and regions, including Russia and Madeira. After dinner back at the campsite, we were glad of an early night.
Monday morning was spent at a workshop on the Ocean Charter. We debated "the oceanic resources exploitation in the perspective of sustainable development" with the French and Danish teams and I was left in no doubt that there are many young people committed to the preservation of the oceans.
Monday afternoon and evening were also spent at Expo '98. We visited the incredible aquarium which is Expo's centrepiece and which attracts over 30,000 visitors every day. The huge central tank is linked to four corner exhibits, each representing the coastlines of the world's oceans.
After Expo finishes on September 30th, this manmade island will remain one of Portugal's biggest tourist attractions. Cable cars provided a novel means of transport and breath-taking views of the river Tagus and the new Vasco da Gama bridge, especially constructed for Expo, and the entire Expo city.
One of the highlights of Expo is the Pavilion of the Future. It sums up the theme of Expo, emphasising the importance of the ocean as heritage for the future of humanity. It incorporated a three-dimensional multimedia show, The Threatened Ocean, an ocean observatory and a walk into the deep blue sea from beach level to the fossilised seabed.
After dinner at Cafe do Brazil, we enjoyed an open-air concert and the evening finished with the Acqumatrix. For me, this was the highlight of the trip. Fireworks, visual projections and music transformed the calm river at night into an extravaganza of light and sound. It was a spectacular climax to our trip.
Tuesday was our last day. After a frantic morning of last-0minute shopping in Lisbon, we headed for the airport and home.
