On June 16–27, Dr. Raminta Skipitytė, a postdoctoral student at the Department of Plant Nutrition and Agroecology of the Institute of Agriculture, LAMMC participated in the IsoCamp 2025 summer short course at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, USA.
Now in its 29th year, IsoCamp attracts around 50 participants from the United States and abroad each year, including undergraduates and doctoral and postdoctoral students. The programme aims to bring together a global community of early-career scientists and provide intensive training in the application of stable isotopes across disciplines such as geology, biology, anthropology, and biomedical sciences. The IsoCamp, hosted by the Center for Stable Isotopes (CSI), also offers participants valuable hands-on laboratory experience.
IsoCamp is a two-week intensive programme featuring lectures by guest experts, collaborative group projects, and hands-on training in both field and laboratory techniques. Participants are also expected to present their findings in two formal presentations during the event.
During the course, students gained practical experience in sample collection and preparation, isotopic analysis, data interpretation, visualisation, and scientific communication. Each group prepared 15-minute presentations each week, analysing how the ratios of stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in bulk samples and n-alkyl lipids varied between plant species as a function of water gradient.
More information about participant eligibility, lectures, workshops, and instructors is available at www.isocamp.unm.edu.
