“If the students are happy – I am happy” – Sarah Glatzle has the right attitude for her position: She is the organizer of the ATSAF-Student Reporters program. Every year at Tropentag, twelve students learn in workshops to report about scientific themes resented at the conference. Sarah not only has to handle the chaotic creativity of the student reporters—her work starts even earlier with the selection of them. “There was even an application from Trinidad-Tobago,” tells Sarah, “but unfortunately only students from European Universities can apply.” Otherwise the traveling costs would be too high to be covered by ATSAF. Learning by doing – you cannot plan everything. Sarah knows that the only way to handle the unexpected is to be flexible. Rooms are locked, material is in the wrong place – lots of problems have to be solved behind the scenes to keep the Conference working. But the stressful moments last only for a few hours and there are, of course, many positive experiences. Last year the students surprised her with flowers for her support. Next year Sarah is going to do her pHD research in Brazil about integrated crop- livestock system – let’s hope she has next year nevertheless the time to help the students.

To understand Ruffy Rodrigo’s interest in Tropentag, you have to know, that he finished his studies in Forestry just to start an additional master in “tropical and international forestry”. He is familiar with these thematics, because before he moved to Göttingen last year, he lived in the Phillipines in Villaba. Despite from the cold winters he enjoys living in the laid-back town.

There is not only a scientific interest in his visit to the conference: Ruffy also wants to meet and connect to researchers and professors from all over the world – or maybe even find a supvervisor for his PhD or a future employer.