Dear InterPore colleagues,

I am preparing to co-host a workshop on microplastics (concerns, policies, challenges), and we realized that most of the audience is probably very unaware of all the detailed microplastic issues we discuss on a daily basis. That exact feeling of ‘unawareness’ caught me when I read the InJournals-contribution. I was simply shocked by the temperatures that natural soils can reach! Make a guess about the temperature and check below!

And when scrolling down, you’ll come across InterPore2024 updates, local chapter announcements and also meeting reports. Great to hear from the WAIC! We got two interesting calls from the ISC. Plenty of jobs for promising master students to become a PhD candidate to full professor positions. And last but not least, the call to nominate someone for the InterPore Award.

All the best,

Matthijs de Winter
Editor-in-Chief
InterPore News

Abstract Submission is Open!

Submit your abstract to one of our 24 Minisymposia by the 02 January deadline. Hear why Mike Celia, Theodora Shelton Pitney Professor of Environmental Studies at Princeton University, thinks you should join us in Qingdao.

Invited speaker

In anticipation of InterPore2024, we’re introducing the invited speakers in today’s and forthcoming Newsletters. This week: Lucia Mancini.

Lucia Mancini
ZAG – Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Slovenia

Title: Advanced multi-scale and multi-modal three-dimensional imaging and modelling of flow properties in porous rocks

Dr. Mancini is a material science physicist who has lead the TomoLab facility (two instruments) at Elettra devoted to microfocus X-ray Computed Tomography since 2005. Since May 2022 she has been working as senior researcher in the Department of Materials of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute in Ljubljana (Slovenia). Her research activity includes, amongst many things: hard 2D and 3D X-ray imaging of solid and liquid materials and application to the morphological and textural characterization of geomaterials.

The textural and geometrical properties of pore networks, including pore size distribution, shape, connectivity, and tortuosity, play a crucial role in the storage and migration of geofluids within porous reservoir rocks. The recent advances in X-ray and neutron 3D imaging techniques in static and dynamic conditions, coupled with computational fluid dynamics, can offer a deeper understanding of how the… continue reading

Qingdao impression

Curious about where we’re going? Please enjoy this YouTube video.

Call for bids for InterPore2026

There has been an update in the call for bids for InterPore2026. An alternative date has been added, the 2 options are as follows: the week starting 18 May 2026 or 26 May 2026.

InterPore2026 is planned to be held in a European country.

We would like to invite all potentially interested venues to send a short bid to Oleg Iliev, with a copy to Karolin Weber, by 15 December 2023.

To view the requirements for the short bid, please see the attached document.

Special Issues ….

The possibility of publishing a Special Issue of InterPore Journal is an exciting opportunity for creating an authoritative collection of papers on a trendy topic. Our Board of Editors is enthusiastic about receiving proposals for special issues on various topics related to porous media science and technology – the publication of which will also allow for the dissemination of cutting-edge research and promoting collaboration among experts in the porous media community.

The possibility of publishing a special issue in InterPore Journal based on the presentations given at different minisymposia at the InterPore conference is one exciting opportunity which we are actively working on. If you are interested in being involved in this, please contact the Managing Editor Laura Lenz or the Editor in Chief Nima Shokri.

The journal’s commitment to excellence and a rigorous peer-review process will ensure that the published articles will be of high quality and that they will contribute to the advancement of porous media science and technology. Researchers interested in submitting proposals for special issues, especially the organizers of the minisymposia at InterPore2024, are encouraged to reach out to our Managing Editor Laura Lenz, who will be delighted to discuss their ideas and facilitate the coordination of this special issue.

More information can also be found here.

Kimberly-Clark Distinguisehd Lectureship

Prof. Adrian Bejan, from Duke University, USA, continues to successfully present his award-winning lecture, “Vascular materials: Predicting Design Evolution”, at various universities and institutions around the world.

On 17 October, he presented his lecture in-person at the Journées d’Etude des Milieux Poreux (JEMP2023), France.

His next and final presentation in this series will take place online at the Indian Society for Heat and Mass Transfer, India, during the ISHMT Golden Jubilee Lecture Series, on 7 December.

We are now receiving requests to host the 2024 InterPore Kimberly-Clark Lecturer, Prof. Ruben Juanes. Please visit our website for further information on how to apply.

Chapter News

Spanish Chapter: Call for abstracts

Norway InterPore Chapter Meeting

The 2023 Meeting of the Norway InterPore Chapter will be held in Oslo on the 9th of November. The workshop will be hosted by PoreLab and the University of Oslo and will take place in the Oslo Science Park (Forskningsparken) Conference Centre at the Faros Room.

There are no registration fees but there is a limited capacity at the venue. If you would like to participate in the InterPore Norway 2023 workshop, please fill out this form.

The preliminary program is available here and consist of presentations from invited speakers from 9:00 to 17:00. Lunch will be served.

The 2nd Annual Saudi InterPore Chapter Meeting

The 2nd Annual Saudi InterPore Chapter Meeting will take place online the week of 26 November 2023 (tentatively 27 and 28 Nov.). Prof. Dr.-Ir. Majid Hassanizadeh will deliver the keynote speech.

Please stay tuned for more details and the finalized agenda!

Report on the First Annual Meeting & Symposium of WAIC

The first annual meeting and symposium of the West Africa InterPore Chapter (WAIC) was held in virtual format on 27 & 28 October 2023 with the participation of over 20 researchers from academia for this first event.

The meeting was opened by Dr. Marcel Bawindsom KEBRE, Associate Professor at Université Joseph KI-ZERBO (Burkina Faso) and Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee of WAIC.

For this first edition of its annual meeting & symposium with the Special Topic: Mining activities in Africa, mining waste management, WAIC invited researchers and industry professionals from different fields of porous media to submit abstracts specially to address the pressing challenges associated with mining activities in Africa, particularly the critical issue of mining waste management. Ten abstracts were received: two from Germany, one from Sénégal, one from Niger, one from Nigeria, and five from Burkina Faso.

Read the full report here.

Report on the 16th edition of JEMP

The 16th France InterPore Chapter Conference (JEMP: Journées d’Etudes des Milieux Poreux) was held at IFP Energies Nouvelles in Rueil-Malmaison, 17-19 October 2023. This year was the 30th anniversary of this biennial conference. The JEMP are a major event bringing together a wide academic and industrial community from France (and beyond) working on porous media and represent an excellent opportunity for very rich exchanges on recent research in the field. This year, 137 researchers from more than 30 research institutions, universities and industries participated in the conference.

Six plenary sessions were given by Prof. Sophie Roman (University of Orleans, France), Prof. Adrian Bejan (Duke University, USA, InterPore Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Lecturer), Prof. Philippe Coussot (University Gustave Eiffel, France), Prof. Linda Luquot (University of Montpellier, France), Prof. Stefania Specchi (Politecnico di Torino, Italy), and Pierre Levitz (Sorbonne University, France).

Over the three days of the conference, 80 oral presentations were given and 22 posters were displayed.

Read the full report here.

Last chance to register for “PORE 1-1 Fundamentals of porous media structure and characterization.”

Join lecturers Ryan Armstrong (UNSW Sydney, Australia), Martin J. Blunt (Imperial College, UK), Maša Prodanović (University of Texas Austin, USA), and Catherine Spurin (Stanford University, USA) as they explore imaging of porous media and image processing, quantification of pore-scale images, single phase transport, and multiphase flow.

This first installation of the InterPore Academy Study Plan in Porous Media will help you to build foundational and specialized knowledge needed to quantitatively study porous media in a variety of different applications, meet lecturers across different institutions and continents, and connect with our vibrant and diverse PM community.

Dates: The course will take place on Mondays from 13 November through 4 December 2023. The dates are as follows:

Monday, 13 November 2023 (13:00-16:00 AEST)
Monday, 20 November 2023 (13:00-16:00 PST)
Monday, 27 November 2023 (9:00-12:00 CST)
Monday, 4 December 2023 (17:00-20:00 GMT)

Please note, these renowned experts will be joining from across the globe. Therefore, lecture times vary weekly to accommodate time zone changes

Recordings will be made available for all participants. Register today!

Call for Nominations for InterPore Awards extended

The Honors & Awards Committee has extended the deadline for nominations to 15 November. InterPore Awards recognize both young and senior scientists for their contributions in the field of porous media research as a sign of appreciation and as a stimulus for more excellent work. Information about nomination requirements can be found on our website.

Please nominate a worthy recipient!

Honors & Awards Committee Member Changes

In addition to the previously announced new Vice-Chair of the committee, Dorthe Wildenschild, Anna Scotti has also joined the Honors & Awards Committee. Mike Celia and Stephane Zaleski have stepped down from the committee and are warmly thanked for their years of service and dedication as a part of this very important InterPore committee. We are very grateful for their active participation in the committee’s decisions in a thriving period that saw the creation of several new awards.

Call for applications: Science Filmmaking workshop

All ISC Member organizations are invited to participate in a one-day Science Filmmaking workshop on 1 April as part of the 2024 Ethnografilm Festival in Paris. The workshop aims to empower scientists to create short films highlighting their own research. Following the workshop, participants will work on creating a short film about their research throughout 2024 with the support and remote assistance by the workshop instructors. All films created will be screened at the 2025 Ethnografilm Festival. Nominate your interested scientist by 1 December. More information

Call for experts: International Resource Panel

The International Resource Panel is seeking to recruit leading scientists with policy-relevant expertise, particularly in the development and implementation of science-based solutions for the sustainable management of natural resources and the achievement of the SDGs. Experts are expected to contribute to the development of science-based and policy-relevant assessments and formulate effective policy options and recommendations including those related to resource efficiency, sustainable consumption and production and transitions to a circular economy.

Experts can apply directly by 17 November. More information

Upper Bounds of Maximum Land Surface Temperatures in a Warming Climate and Limits to Plant Growth

Milad Aminzadeh, Dani Or, Bjorn Stevens, Amir AghaKouchak, Nima Shokri

Extreme land surface temperatures (LSTs) can be identified by satellite imagery; however, land and atmospheric conditions for the onset of maximum LST have not yet been globally explored. In this paper, a physically-based analytical model was developed to quantify the extent of maximum LSTs and delineate associated land and atmospheric conditions for the onset of such extremes. The findings reveal that temperature hotspots mostly aggregate in Middle East and North Africa, with maximum temperatures exceeding 85 °C during the study period from 2005 to 2020. The study sheds new light on the present and future hot regions that become ecologically prohibitive for life and primary productivity in unexplored regions of the Earth.

Earth’s Future, 11, e2023EF003755
Corresponding Authors: Milad Aminzadeh and Nima Shokri

InterPore Members can promote their publications to the community via the InterPore InJournals Section of the Newsletter. If you wish to do so, please submit your publication highlight to newsletter@InterPore.org. Clearly indicate which of the authors is an InterPore member (or the institute with an Institutional Membership). Note that we will not review the entries nor does InterPore endorse the published work. Furthermore, we publish on a “submitted first, published first” basis. The highlighted publication should be no older than 6 months (available online).

The highlight should be short (max 100 words) and contain an illustration. Please note that we offer this opportunity exclusively to InterPore members. If you would like to become a member, please have a look here.

PhD

• PhD Research Fellow in Porous Media Physics. PoreLab, Njord Center/Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
• PhD Research Fellow in computational mathematics for geoscience – ERC MaPSI project. Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, Norway

Post-doc

• Post-doc on the modeling of microorganism transport in unsaturated soils. Department of Geosciences, University of Padua, Italy
• Post-doc on transport in Energy Devices. Energy and Natural Resources Security Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, US

(Assistant/associate) Prof

• Full Professorship (W3) in the field of Global Water Security. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Hamburg, Germany
• Open Rank Faculty Position on Sustainable Mining. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, City of New York, USA
• Open Rank Faculty Position on Applied Climate Science / Carbon Management. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, City of New York, USA
• Open Rank Faculty Position on Water Resources. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, City of New York, USA

If you have a job opening in your institute and would like to promote it internationally, please send the description and weblink or PDF to newsletter@interpore.org, and we’ll be happy to add it to the list. It is also possible to post the position on the InterPore website. Log in through MyInterPore and click “Submit A Job Opening.”