From 13 – 17 April 2026 the 6th Baltic Earth Conference took place in Heringsdorf, Usedom, Germany. In total, 127 participants gathered in Heringsdorf for the conference, among which were 51 Early Career Scientists. For some participants, it was the first conference which they attended so far. The participants came from 14 different countries: Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Ukraine, France, Italy, China and the USA.

The presence of the marine bacterium Vibrio vulnificus, which is potentially dangerous to humans, can now be predicted up to five weeks in advance in the Baltic Sea using artificial intelligence (AI). A research team led by the IOW reached this conclusion by combining high-resolution environmental, satellite, and microbiome data in an AI-based analysis. The study, recently published in “Water Research,” shows that this approach allows for a much more precise identification of risk periods than was previously possible.