Science Beyond the Laboratory – Looking Back at the “Mērsraga ābols” Science Festival
On 15 August, the Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology (LHEI) took part in the first “Mērsraga ābols” Science Festival in Mērsrags, a coastal town on the western shore of the Gulf of Riga. Over two days, the festival brought together researchers, scientific organisations and curious visitors, offering opportunities to discover science through talks, experiments, conversations and hands-on exploration of the surrounding environment.
Located directly on the Baltic Sea coast, Mērsrags provided an especially fitting setting for discussions about aquatic ecosystems, marine pollution and human impacts on the environment. For LHEI, participation in the festival was an opportunity to bring research beyond the laboratory and academic environment and to engage directly with visitors of different ages and backgrounds.
LHEI researcher Marta Barone contributed to the festival’s lecture programme with the talk “Microplastic Pollution in the Context of Climate Change”. The presentation explored microplastic pollution in aquatic environments and the ways in which this growing environmental challenge interacts with changing climate and environmental conditions.
Microplastics are an important focus of contemporary aquatic environmental research. The festival format provided an opportunity to discuss the issue outside the academic setting and to connect scientific research with everyday choices, human activities and broader questions concerning the future of the Baltic Sea and other aquatic ecosystems.
At the heart of the “Mērsraga ābols” festival was the idea that science begins with curiosity, observation and the simple question “Why?” Its programme combined research with nature walks, conversations, experiments, science films, demonstrations and other activities, allowing visitors to encounter science in the coastal landscape – by the sea, in the forest, in the wind and in the water.
Public engagement and science communication are an important part of LHEI’s work, helping to explain how aquatic environments are studied, how scientific data are collected and how research contributes to understanding environmental change in the Baltic Sea and beyond. Meeting festival visitors in Mērsrags once again demonstrated that interest in the health of our seas and waters can begin with a simple question – and with the opportunity to ask a researcher directly.
We thank the organisers of the “Mērsraga ābols” Science Festival and everyone who joined us for their curiosity, conversations and enthusiasm for discovering science together.
LHEI’s participation in the festival and the research topics presented were related to the project “Microplastics and Associated Persistent Organic Pollutants in Arctic Glacier Meltwater Ecosystems and Adjacent Areas” (MP-ARCTIC) and the Latvian Council of Science grant LZP-2024/1-0524, “Development of an Interdisciplinary Methodological Approach for Assessing the Ecological Quality of Sediments in the Gulf of Riga”.
