News

14 September 2021
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Women leadership in marine technology, engineering and science

Prof. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, chair of the SCOR Capacity Development Committee has been appointed Chair of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine of the USA.

“The Ocean Studies Board explores the science, policies, and infrastructure needed to understand, manage, and conserve coastal and marine environments and resources. In addition to exercising leadership within the ocean community, the Board undertakes studies at the request of federal agencies, Congress, or other sponsors, or upon its own initiative.”

The Ocean Studies Board also serves as the U.S. National Committee for SCOR, ensuring the participation of the U.S. oceanographic research community in the meetings and planning of SCOR activities, encouraging international cooperation in ocean research.

Claudia Benitez-Nelson

SOOS invites the community to a celebration of SOOS’ achievements of the last decade, and to hear about their plans for the next decade of supporting international efforts to observe the Southern Ocean.

Date: 1 September, 11:00 – 13:00 UTC

More information about registration and the program can be found here

The 2020 SCOR proceedings is now available. The proceedings summarizes the discussions during the 2020 SCOR Annual Meeting held virtually between the 20-22 of October of 2020 and compiles all the background information for the meeting, including the proposals for new working groups, the reports from current SCOR working groups, projects, capacity development activities, and the reports of affiliated and partner organizations.  All of these can also be accessed online through the SCOR website at: https://scor-int.org/events/2020-scor-annual-meeting/.

The SCOR 2020 Annual Meeting was attended by 121 participants from 34 countries representing all continents. All SCOR Working Groups, research, infrastructural, and affiliated projects, along with the affiliated and partner organizations reported on their activities. Some of the main highlights of the SCOR 2020 Annual Meeting include: (1) the approval of a SCOR revised Constitution, (2) the renovation of the SCOR Executive Committee, (3) the incorporation of a new member to SCOR, and (4) the approval of three new Working Groups.

The proceedings can also be found at the AquaDocs repository: https://aquadocs.org/handle/1834/41405

The Southern Ocean Task Force and the Organizing Committee of Polar Data Forum IV are pleased to announce that the Southern Ocean Decade & Polar Data Forum Week 2021 will be convened on 20-24 September 2021. This event will be dedicated to the 2nd Southern Ocean Regional Workshop for the UN Ocean Decade and the 4th edition of the Polar Data Forum.

2nd Southern Ocean Regional Workshop – 20-22 September
In the framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Southern Ocean Community engaged in a stakeholder-oriented process to develop the Southern Ocean Action Plan to provide a framework for Southern Ocean stakeholders to formulate and develop concrete activities that support the Decade vision.
Based on the First Southern Ocean Regional Workshop, this 2nd volume of the Southern Ocean contribution to the UN Ocean Decade will provide a space to gather ocean key stakeholders to further discuss and prioritize the Southern Ocean challenges, and identify tangible actions and deliverables to overcome these as a community.
The Workshop will combine a conference style meeting in support of knowledge exchange, with a public consultation approach that will build up to the development of the Final Southern Ocean Action Plan for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Polar Data Forum IV – 20-24 September
Polar Data Forum (PDF) is a place where polar data holders get together and make more use of data. The Forum has two main components: the Conference, where the border between funding, policy and data is explored through presentations and posters (23-24 September); and Workshop Sessions & Hackathons, where the Polar Data Community opens the dialogue to make progress on their shared objectives (20-22 September).
Based on the activities and discussions from PDF III, and particularly, on a workshop focused on marine data, this edition of the Polar Data Forum will put the focus on polar oceans. This also enables the Forum to be aligned with the launch of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

REGISTER HERE

Organizer: Marine Technology Society (MTS) India Section, endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

OCEANS is a bi-annual event for global marine researchers, technologists, engineers, students, and policymakers. The researchers and industrial leaders gather for four days to highlight, discuss and exchange relevant topics and current trends in marine technologies. This will help in creating awareness on advanced research areas, practices, and policies for the marine field.

Objectives: As a prelude to OCEANS 2022, the MTS is organizing the Women Leadership Programme to involve women engineers, technologists and scientists focusing on students for career opportunities in the marine sector.

Three world renowned experts will be sharing their experience with students:

• Ms Zdenka Willis, President Marine Technology Society (MTS)
• Ms Susan Kathy Land, President Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
• Dr Cleopatra Doumbia Henry, President, World Maritime University Sweden

Date: 14 September 2021 (online)

For more information, see the event flyer

Registration here

With great sadness we convey the passing of our colleague Dr. Satya Prakash, coordinator of the Joint Project Office (JPO) – India of the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2), based at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in Goa, India. Satya completed his master studies in applied geology at the Indian Institute of Technology (Rorkee) and earned a PhD at the Physical Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Ahmedabad. His area of research was on biogeochemistry of the Arabian Sea and Southern Ocean utilizing isotopes. He was one of the pioneers in the deployment and validation of new-generation Argo-floats with biogeochemical sensors in the Indian Ocean.

As expressed in his obituary in the IIOE-2 latest Newsletter, Satya played a key role in planning various activities leading to the formal launching of the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2) from Goa. He also participated in the first research cruise under IIOE-2 (Goa-Mauritius). Since then, he had served as the JPO coordinator for the India node of IIOE-2 and had been actively involved in numerous activities related to the IIOE-2 including being a part of the Editorial Team of the IIOE-2 newsletter and the Indian Ocean Bubble, as well as facilitating the hosting of the fourth meeting of the Steering Committee of the IIOE-2 in virtual space in April, 2021.

Our deepest condolences to his wife, daughter, family, friends and colleagues.

It is with great sadness that we announce that Dr. Chibo Chikwililwa, researcher at the University of Namibia, passed away on the 23 June 2021 due to complications of COVID-19. Chibo was the  co-director and member of the SCOR’s Regional Graduate Networks of Oceanography (RGNO) committee since 2016, organizing the annual RGNO Ocean discovery camps. Since 2019, she was the GEOTRACES national representative for Namibia. Chibo completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town and earned her PhD in Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography from the University of Rostock in 2014 working with marine phycotoxins in the northern Benguela region related to harmful algal blooms.

Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

A heartfelt tribute by his friend and colleague Kurt Hanselmann can be read at: https://www4.obs-mip.fr/wp-content-omp/uploads/sites/31/2021/07/Scientific_career_Chibo_KHa_VMo.pdf

A web page by the RGNO in memory of Chibo is available here (please use guest user).

The Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned & Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) and the Committee on Capacity Development of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) are jointly organizing an International Workshop on Application of ocean science and technology for the practice of sustainable “Blue Economy” in developing countries.

The overarching objective of the Workshop is to highlight the role of ocean science and technology in blue economic development. The Workshop will introduce current concepts in blue economy, followed by discussion of specific topics that include coastal marine resources of economic relevance, environmental threats that endanger blue economic goals, the importance of ocean observing systems and the need for capacity development. By illuminating the use and misuse of Science and Technology in blue economies, the Workshop aims to help establish the foundation of scientific knowledge and ocean observations to support sustainable ocean development.

Workshop dates: 8-9 November 2021 (virtual mode)

Registration deadline: 25 October 2021

More information about the topics of the workshop and how to register can be found here