What has happened so far in 2022?

Recap of YPN activities

With the summer break fast approaching for many members, the CTBT Young Professionals Network (YPN) can look back at an exciting and content-rich spring. While we enjoy the holidays and look forward to new events and networking opportunities in August, please rejoice in a recap of the YPN activities so far in 2022.

Creating opportunities for scientific and professional growth

Greater outreach with the YPN associate membership
In 2022, the Young Professionals Network grew even bigger and launched a couple of new initiatives. The popular YPN event series “Science & Tech Talks” continued to receive great interest from both members

and non-members, and from 1 April 2022, the CTBT Young Professionals Network (YPN) started offering an associate membership for young students and researchers belonging to STEM fields. The network believes that an associate membership could increase the interest in working on CTBT related sciences and technologies and support the overall goal of ensuring that there will be a new generation of experts and leaders to take the work of the CTBTO forward.

The Young Professionals Network is growing! Associate members of the CTBT Young Professionals Network get access to events arranged by the Young Professionals Network, such as “Science and Tech Talks”, presentations, and some general networking events. They also gain access to the YPN web portal.

Three scientific exchanges at different locations

*If you would like to experience a completely new culture and way of life – both inside and outside the office – the YPN exchange program is ideal for you!*

In May 2022, the YPN Exchange Program was introduced. During the pilot phase, three NDCs – NORSAR, ZAMG, and KNMI – will be welcoming exchange requests from members of the network. Simultaneously, the YPN and participating NDCs encourage other NDCs to join the YPN Exchange Program.

Through the YPN Exchange Program, you get access to ideas, research, and experts that will help you develop both scientifically and professionally. You can expect valuable learning, inspiration, and guidance from one of our excellent YPN mentors. Besides, a stay in Norway, Austria, or the Netherlands will give you international work experience and expand your employment opportunities and network.

It is not too late to apply! You can find more information about the YPN exchanges and application process here: https://ypn.ctbto.org/YPN-exchange-program

A meeting-place for knowledge transfer and networking

Contributions from the Kazakh NDC

In January and February, four YPN members from Kazakhstan held Science & Tech Talks about matters close to Kazakh NDC. Kazakhstan hosts several IMS facilities; three auxiliary seismological stations at Borovoye, Kurchatov, and Aktyubinsk, as well as an infrasound station, also located at Aktyubinsk, and a primary seismic station at Makanchi.

On 27 January 2022, Aidyn Mukambayev and Vitaliy Dubrovin presented the IMS facilities in Kazakhstan, the NNC stations network, and various NDC products.

On 11 February 2022, Abylay Uzbekov and Pavel Ryabenko talked about the efforts of the Kazakh NDC to save an archive of the historical seismograms and use of these records for monitoring purposes.

Work and research

In March, we arranged the second “YPN MINI-TALKS: Work & Research”, which once again was an excellent opportunity to learn about other members’ work and gain new insights. Brian Young from the USA talked about his work as an R&D Geosciences Engineer at the Sandia National Laboratories. Patrick Hupe from Germany introduced us to the German NDC/Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and his current project on IMS infrasound data products for atmospheric studies.

On 4 May, student Eduard Forestier held a YPN Science & Tech Talk about his background, previous work, and fast machine-learning-based prediction tool of infrasound attenuation.

Science & Tech Talk with Jenifer Mackby

In connection with the International Women’s Day, we invited Jenifer Mackby to talk about her inspiring career, the CTBT, and gender. She served an important role as Secretary of the negotiations on the CTBT, the Group of Scientific Experts, and the Verification Working Group at the CTBTO.

“Pictures speak louder than words”, Jenifer Mackby said, while she talked about the lack of females during her own career experiences and in more recent CTBT activities.

Mackby’s YPN Science & Tech Talk led to an interesting round of reflections, and the participants mentioned several challenges and suggestions to narrow the gender gap in the CTBT sphere. You can read more about the topic on the YPN web portal.

YPN member + mentor “Get-Together” during WGB 58 in Vienna

After two years of lockdowns and virtual meetings, both members and mentors of the CTBT Young Professionals Network enjoyed seeing some familiar faces at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) during session 58 of Working Group B (21 February – 4 March 2022). The YPN arranged a small member and mentor “Get-Together” at a Greek restaurant and Jelle Assink told us about his experiences from WGB in the conference room.

Prior to the meetings, the YPN informed about the possibilities for participating online, emphasizing that it is an excellent opportunity to learn and get an impression of what Working Group B is about, the topics the state signatories discuss, presentations by the PTS, and the general policy-making process. Correspondingly, Jelle said:

“I advise other Young Professionals to ask their NDCs for support to travel to Vienna and experience WGB and the interface between science and diplomacy. It is a great opportunity for learning”.

Hopefully, the Young Professionals Network will be able to plan a bigger event during the next Working Group B (22 August - 2 September 2022). We wish you a great summer and look forward to seeing you again!