News

The report of the XV Session of the IOCCP Scientific Steering Group & Global Ocean Observing System Biogeochemistry Panel of Experts (IOCCP-SSG-15) has been published. You can access the report from the IOCCP website at: http://www.ioccp.org/images/D3meetingReports/IOCCP-SSG-15-report_final.pdf

The report summarises the current status and future plans related to IOCCP’s coordination activities for each of their themes, including the new “Particulate matter” and “Observations-modelling interface” themes.

Check the IMBeR eNewsletter with the latest announcements, articles and general news and science highlights at: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/IMBeR-eNews-1-March-2021.html?soid=1126244994352&aid=svUJORDc5qI

Jesse Ausubel and Alan Curry from the Rockefeller University’s Program for the Human Environment explain how environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to provide accurate information about the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life, from microbes to whales that can be critical for the New Blue Economy.

See article at: https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/how-edna-could-be-a-cornerstone-of-the-new-blue-economy

Scientist from the International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE) pledge for international action in this paper led by Carlos Duarte.

See article from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) at:

https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/service/press/single-view/die-lautsphaere-des-ozeans-und-anthropogener-laerm.html

“Due to construction work in the sea, shipping, and gas and oil extraction, the oceans are becoming increasingly louder. A comprehensive international study has now shown that this noise affects the behaviour of far more animal species than previously assumed. The researchers call for us to listen closely to the ocean and to finally regulate noise worldwide. Viable technological solutions are already available.”

Carlos M. Duarte et al: The soundscape of the Anthropocene ocean. Science 371, 5 February 2021, DOI: 10.1126/science.aba4658

Check the GEOTRACES eNewsletter with the latest news and science highlights at: https://www.geotraces.org/?na=v&nk=3830-1b6854dd7e&id=67

Follow the GEOTRACES SWINGS expedition live: https://exploreur.univ-toulouse.fr/swings-expedition-english

SCOR welcomes new co-chairs for the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of SOLAS and GEOTRACES, and for the Scientific Steering Group (SSG) of the IOCCP starting in 2021:

• Minhan Dai (China) and Cliff Law (New Zealand) will be the co-chairs of the SOLAS SSC  (https://www.solas-int.org/about/ssc-members.html) replacing Lisa Miller (Canada).
• Maeve Lohan (UK) will be the new co-chair of the GEOTRACES SSC (https://www.geotraces.org/ssc-members/) joining co-chair Karen Casciotti (USA) and replacing Andie Bowie (Australia).
• Véronique Garçon (France) will be the new co-chair of the IOCCP SSG (http://www.ioccp.org/) joining co-chair Kim Currie (New Zealand) and replacing Masao Ishii (Japan).

We welcome and wish a successful engagement to Minhan, Cliff, Maeve, and Véronique and deeply thank Lisa, Andie, and Masao for their invaluable service and expertise in leading SOLAS, GEOTRACES and the IOCCP.

SOLAS is seeking for a Project Officer to join its international team.  The position will be based at the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (MEL), Xiamen, China.

Further information at:  http://bit.ly/2Uflewe

We are very sad to inform that  Dr. Thomas M. (Tom) Church has passed away on 11 February 2021 due to complications from COVID-19. Tom was a long-term faculty member at the University of Delaware where the SCOR office is base and also a member of SCOR Working Group #80 aimed to study the role of Phase Transfer Processes in the Cycling of Trace Metals in Estuaries.

A tribute to Tom by GEOTRACES can be read at: https://www.geotraces.org/geotraces-tribute-to-thomas-m-church/

SCOR has awarded four Visiting Scholars for 2021. The awardees are:

• Enrique Montes (University of South Florida, USA) to teach at the Universidade Federal de Espiritu Santo (Brazil) about biodiversity surveys, protocols and data management workflows with LTER.
• Julia Sigwart (Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Germany) to teach at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (Malaysia) about the role of taxonomy in ocean sciences, biodiversity resources, museum collections resources for ocean sciences.
• Louise Firth (University of Plymouth, UK) to teach at the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) (South Africa) about eco-engineering of the marine built environment.
• Marina Ross (Acropolis, S.A., Greece) to teach at Hue University (Vietnam) about fisheries and aquaculture.

See full list of SCOR Visiting Scholars since 2009 at: https://scor-int.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Scholars-for-2009-2021.pdf

John Gould (UK) and Walter Zenk (Germany) describe the work of SCOR’s Working Group 21 and, particularly, the WG’s activities aboard RV “Akademik Kurchatov”. They describe their personal memories of the voyage and their subsequent research relating to the use of current meters and the investigation of the oceans’ mesoscale variability and global scale circulation.

https://jor.ocean.ru/index.php/jor/article/view/582/349