The Institute of Earth Systems organised the sixth edition of its Graduate Launchpad on 28 June 2023, between 09:00 and 13:00 in Lecture Theatre 1 at the University of Malta, Msida Campus. The Launchpad is an annual event highlighting research projects carried out by the Institute’s students.
This year’s event was compèred by two second-year undergraduates, Ms Izabella Apostolov and Ms Kristina Felice Pace. The programme featured 12 presentations by selected final-year students reading for the B.Sc. (Hons) in Earth Systems, as well as a presentation delivered by one of the Institute’s Ph.D. students.
The event provided students with the opportunity to present the results of their research to an audience made up of other students, UM academics, representatives from various governmental agencies involved in environmental management, ESG professionals and other practitioners working in the environmental sector. The topics that were presented and discussed covered a wide range of issues of practical importance at the local and regional level, including human-nature connectedness, underwater noise pollution, aerobiology, melissopalynology, remote sensing, climatology, air pollution, landscape quality and entomology.
In addition to the oral presentations, a total of 23 research posters were exhibited in the lecture theatre’s foyer, providing a visual representation of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects across the environmental and rural sciences. Stands were also set up by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), WasteServ Malta, ST Microelectronics, APS Bank and EY Malta.
An e-booklet containing abstracts of the student research projects conducted by this year’s B.Sc. (Hons) in Earth Systems undergraduates was circulated to the event attendees and is available for download. The next edition of the Earth Systems Graduate Launchpad is planned for Summer 2024.