On 9th and 10th of April, the 3rd Dinaric Symposium on Subterranean Biology took place in Trebinje. It was organized as part of the SubBIOCODE project, and kindly hosted by the Museum of Herzegovina. More than 70 participants, including professionals, amateurs, students and naturalists, from at least 10 countries enjoyed the talks covering various topics on the research of the subterranean fauna in the Dinaric region. The topics covered taxonomy, new approaches in research of well known subterranean taxa, research of adaptations to the subterranean environment, theoretical background on current distribution patterns and many more (see Abstract book here).
The SubBIOCODE’s topics were presented in a few lectures – the presentation of the project’s activities, the promotion of the SubBIOCODE database, presentation of the work on the amphipod Typhlogammarus mrazeki and on the specialized hygropetricolous genera of cave beetles. In addition, we are exceptionally proud that all three SubBIOCODE interns participated in the symposium with research posters, presenting the outcomes of their work during their stay in Ljubljana. The symposium was also a great venue to promote the voting for the new species of the cave shrimp found in caves of Popovo polje and Southeastern Croatia. For this purpose we designed a ‘two in one’, voting card and a postcard presenting the new species.
As the symposium got the best venue it could, we are fully grateful to the Museum of Herzegovina and its staff, especially director Ivana Grujić, for their hospitality and unselfish help. Also, we were deeply honored that a representative of the City of Trebinje, Mrs. Slađjana Skočajić, expressed welcome to the conference attendees, and we hope we managed to set the cornerstone for future cooperation.
As a part of a fieldwork excursion, we visited Grančarevo dam (Hydropower plant Trebinje 1) on the river Trebišnjica, forming Bileća lake. We are thankful to Nikola Tubić, the manager of the HE Trebinje 1, who kindly approved our visit. At the dam we were warmly welcomed by Sanja Čučkovič, a participant of the symposium that is employed at the Hydropower plants in Trebinje (Hidroelektrane na Trebišnjici), and Obren Pujić. They showed us the hall with the turbines and the dam itself, which is very impressive.
The symposium was a full success. We were happy to see many students and researchers at the early stages of their careers, who had an excellent opportunity to see some of the possibilities of research on subterranean fauna, and establish networks with more experienced researchers. The 3rd Dinaric symposium also reached the general public in the region as it was presented at the local news – in the morning show of the tv Herceg TV, in the evening news of the Republika Srpska Tv and on portal Trebinje live.
Last but not least…hope to see you in large numbers at the 4th Dinaric Symposium on subterranean biology.