Attending SIBS 2018 in Hawkesbury as a student was a turning point for me. I learned techniques I still use today and connected with an inspiring community of isotope enthusiasts. Since then, isotopes have become a core part of my research, and I’ve had the privilege of returning to other SIBS events as a lecturer and mentor. Looking back, I’m grateful for both experiences, learning and later giving back.

by Diego Márquez, Instructor

EucFACE Expedition

Visiting EucFACE during SIBS 2023 was unforgettable — the world’s only mature forest CO2 enrichment site! Our hosts from Western Sydney University showed how isotopes reveal how rising CO2 affects soils, plants, and microbes.

Chasing the Storm

During SIBS 2020, a surprise hailstorm hit Canberra with golf ball–sized hail. Instead of running for cover, we grabbed our vials! Soon we were sampling hailstones to analyse how isotope ratios vary from surface to core — pure scientific curiosity in action!

When I attended the first SIBS workshop in 2013, I did this mostly out of interest. It turned out that the workshop itself was not only much more fun than I could have imagined but the skills I learned also shaped my research direction over the following years. Once I got my hands dirty with working with isotopes, I started contributing to SIBS as an instructor. Now stable isotopes are a core technique we use in my lab to study mesophyll conductance in leaves - and it all started at SIBS!

by Florian Busch, Instructor