MIO PhD student Laura Molares Moncayo recently attended the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil, representing early career cryosphere scientists. Positioned within the Cryosphere Pavilion, Laura engaged directly with delegates, policymakers, journalists, and other early-career colleagues about role of the cryosphere in the climate system, and its interactions with the oceans, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. In particular, she highlighted the often-overlooked role of microbial processes in the cryosphere, and why these processes need to be part of global climate discussions, as well as – being from Colombia – bringing perspectives from the Global South into discussions that are often dominated by institutions and priorities from the Global North. She was encouraged by the curiosity and enthusiasm of COP30 attendees, but also made aware of how much work remains to bring cryosphere and ocean sciences into climate policy.
