Editorial

Dear InterPore colleagues,

Please read the great InterPore statement on DEI. It makes me proud to be part of the InterPore family. If you have questions or doubts, please reach out. An open conversation can be the first step of practicing DEI.

Diverse is also the list of today's topics, and I can recommend all of them: From the list of minisymposia for InterPore2026 to a call for nominees for the InterPore2026 awards, on to webinars, jobs, and scientific papers.

All the best,

Matthijs de Winter
Editor-in-Chief
InterPore News

InterPore2026 Minisymposia

InterPore2026 will host 20 minisymposia that will form the backbone of the scientific program at InterPore2026. The careful selection of topics guarantees a clear and focused program. In addition, two new minisymposia have been introduced to highlight emerging areas of research.

While organizers are still finalizing some of the session descriptions, we are excited to give you this preview so you can begin planning your contributions.

Abstract submission will open on 13 October 2025—mark your calendars!

Invited Speaker - Lara Manzocco

We are delighted to feature Lara Manzocco, Professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Udine, as an Invited Speaker at InterPore2026.

In her talk, Porous pathways to improve food functionality and sustainability, she will explore how food porosity shapes texture, flavor, nutrient delivery, and shelf life. “Pores are not just empty spaces, but smart elements actively controlling food structure,” she notes—pointing to exciting opportunities for designing innovative, sustainable foods.

InterPore2026 Testimonial

Jaime Gómez-Hernández on InterPore2026

Prof. Jaime Gómez-Hernández (Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain), chair of InterPore’s Program Committee, is excited to invite you to InterPore2026 — a unique event bringing together brilliant minds from across the globe.

Watch Jaime’s message and get inspired to be part of InterPore2026: “Nantes in May, where cutting-edge science meets French charm!”

Your turn! As we prepare for InterPore2026, we’d love to feature more community voices. If you’d like to share a short (1–2 minute) video about your InterPore experience, please send it to conference2026@interpore.org. Selected videos will be highlighted in our newsletter, on the InterPore website, and across social media.

Sightseeing hunt...in Nantes!

InterPore2026 will be in Nantes. This week's cultural highlight: The Musée d'Arts de Nantes

The Musée d’Arts de Nantes (Nantes Museum of Fine Arts) is housed in a gorgeous 19th-century building, located less than one kilometer from the conference centre. Founded in 1801, the Musée d’Arts de Nantes is one of the few French museums to have consistently expanded its collection with works by living artists. Over time, this commitment has shaped a rich and dynamic journey through more than 900 paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, and installations, showcasing masterpieces by artists including De la Tour, Courbet, Delacroix, Monet, Picasso, Kandinsky and Soulages.

Photo credit: “Escalier du Musée d’Arts de Nantes” by François de Dijon, CC BY-SA 4.0

Executive Committee Statement on DEI

The InterPore Executive Committee has made a statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Why should InterPore—a scientific society focused on porous media—engage in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)? It is a fair and important question. Read the full statement via the link below. 

Call for Volunteers – Social Media Management

InterPore is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to support our social media presence! We are seeking:

• Someone to take over the management of our Facebook account

• Someone interested in getting us started and managing a future Bluesky account

If you enjoy communicating science and engaging with the porous media community, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact Laura.Lenz@interpore.org if you are interested.

Kimberly-Clark Lectureship 2026 - Apply now to host!

Prof. Lyesse Laloui, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, is the Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Lecturer of 2026.

For detailed information about the lectures, please visit Prof. Laloui’s page.

If your university/institution is interested in hosting Prof. Laloui, please fill out the application form in our website by 31 December 2025.

Apply now to host Prof. Laloui! We look forward to hearing from you!

Kimberly-Clark Lectureship 2025 - Prof. Rainer Helmig

Prof. Rainer Helmig, from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, is the Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Lecturer of 2025. So far this year, he has presented 16 lectures in universities and institutions all over the world.

On 4 September, he travelled to the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford to present his lecture and engage in lively discussions.

In October, he will be headed to the USA for a series of lectures.

InterPore2027 Program Committee

Following the announcement of Lynn Schreyer as Chair, the full Program Committee for InterPore2027 has now been established. The committee will oversee the scientific programs for both InterPore2027 and 2028, including speakers, focus themes, and minisymposia.

Deliberations are already underway for the 2027 program, and we look forward to sharing exciting updates in the months ahead.

India Chapter: Webinar with Prof. Achyut Mishra

The 6th in the webinar series  "Intermediate Scale Lithological Heterogeneity", Prof. Achyut Mishra invites you to join in the webinar titled "Bridging the Gap Between Pore and Reservoir Scales". 

Date: 30 September 2025 4:00 PM (Indian Standard Time) 
Time: 4:00 pm (Indian Standard Time)

InterPore Awards 2026

Nominate a worthy recipient today! InterPore proudly recognizes researchers for excellence across disciplines and at all career stages. Do you know someone whose work deserves to be celebrated? Let’s honor and highlight the outstanding contributions shaping the porous media community.

Deadline: 15 November 2025

For more information visit our website.

Academy Webinar Schedule is now available!

The InterPore Academy Webinars schedule for the upcoming year has now been finalized! Our series kicked off earlier this month with an engaging presentation from Ricardo Ruiz Baier on Mathematical analysis and robust numerical methods for ion transport in deformable porous media.

From Digital twins for CO₂ storage to Transport and microbial behavior in fractured systems, please visit the Academy Webinars page for the most up-to-date schedule and information.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Machine Learning-Based Estimation of Oil Recovery Factor Using XGBoost: Insights from Classification and Data-Driven Analyses

Alireza Roustazadeh, Frank Male, Behzad Ghanbarian, Mohammad B. Shadmand, Vahid Taslimitehrani, and Larry W. Lake

Roustazadeh et al. explore the use of machine learning — specifically the XGBoost classification algorithm — to estimate oil recovery factors (RF) from readily available reservoir data. Training and testing across multiple databases, the models achieved moderate accuracy but also revealed a strong dependence on the characteristics of the training dataset, underscoring the sensitivity of database choice.

Feature importance and SHAP (Shapley Additive exPlanations) analysis highlighted reserves, reservoir area, and thickness as the dominant predictors, offering new insights into the key drivers of RF estimation.

Deep underground, collapsed salt caverns become chaotic rubble fields. How fluids move through rubble could affect the safety of nuclear waste storage

Robert Lander, Edward Matteo, Linda Bonnell, Thomas Dewers, Melisa Mills, James Guilkey, Chven Mitchell, and John Stormont

What happens when a nuclear waste storage cavern in a salt formation collapses? The result is jumbled salt rubble with fluid storage and transport properties that are hard to predict. Using 3D simulations based on real salt fragments from WIPP in New Mexico — from 1 mm grains to 10 cm blocks — we found rubble porosity can vary widely (~28–48 vol%) depending on fragment size distribution, shape, and friction. These results improve our ability to anticipate how fluids — and potentially radionuclides — may move through collapsed sections of a repository.

Check out the Events at InterPore

There is always something going on at InterPore! We have courses, workshops, and webinars through the InterPore Academy, Chapter Meetings across the globe, and the Annual Meeting in a new and different location every year. Check out the offerings through the button below.