Judith Gobin
She is a Professor of Marine Biology and an internationally recognised marine scientist with a career in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, spanning more than 38 years. She has made significant contributions to the knowledge of marine biodiversity in Trinidad and Tobago beginning with research in soft coastal marine sediments followed by rocky shores and more recently deep-sea areas. She launched a book and 5-part DVD series, Deep Sea Wonders featuring footage, for the first time for Trinidad and Tobago of deep sea communities; from an expedition by the exploration vessel the EV Nautilus. Professor Gobin is a CARICOM Advisor in marine science and continues to contribute to regional and global conversations on the new legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). As a University of the West Indies Lecturer for the past 24 years (and now retired), she is especially proud of the positive impact she continues to have on young scientists – both women and men!
Enrique Montes
He is an Associate Scientist of the U. Miami Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) affiliated to NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) studying responses of marine life to changes in environmental conditions from natural and human-driven processes. His research integrates hydrohgraphic, bio-optical, imaging, genomic, and taxonomic measurements collected at sea with satellite data to resolve the oceanographic context of local observations, and characterize regional biogeographic conditions, ocean habitats, and their planktonic assemblages. Montes co-leads the Southeast US Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (SEUS-MBON). He is the Principal Investigator of the MBON Pole-to-Pole of the Americas, an international program dedicated to coordinating biodiversity monitoring of coastal habitats and building capacity in biodiversity observing and data science. Montes serves as Executive Committee member of the International Association for Biological Oceanography (IABO) and the World Association of Marine Stations (WAMS).
Aileen Tan
She is the Director of Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) in Universiti Sains Malaysia; Fellow of Academy Science Malaysia; Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network (APUCEN) and Vice Chair of UNESCO IOC of Western Pacific. She is also a Board member of Partnership for Observations of the Global Oceans (POGO). She serves as international steering committee in several organisations such as CoastPredict, Global Ocean Corps, Global Partnership on Plastic and Marine Litter; and EquiSea. She has been working on the effects of climate stressors (ocean acidification and temperature rise) on the culture of molluscs from the embryonic stage to growout since 2014. She has been an active researcher with many international programmes such as Darwin Initiative (UK), IOC Westpac (UN), JSPS-NaGISA (Japan) and recently with POGO and IOGOOS. Currently, she plays a significant role in moving the agenda of UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), alongside with IOC Westpac. Her field of expertise is in marine science, specializing in mariculture and conservation of molluscs, promoting “green aquaculture”, to create an impactful sustainable income for the local communities, besides creating a balance between profit and environment protection. She believes strongly in translating her knowledge and benefitting the communities with research findings, creating a better tomorrow for all.
Christopher Boyko
Dr. Boyko received his B.S. in Biology from the State University of New York at Binghamton, his M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and his PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Rhode Island. His interests include the taxonomy, ecology, phylogenetic systematics of crustaceans, and host/parasite co-evolution He is also interested in the biodiversity of invertebrates in general and has headed or participated in invertebrate surveys in coastal Georgia, USA, The Bahamas, and on Easter Island in the South Pacific Ocean. He has published over 160 papers on a variety of invertebrate subjects, described over 100 new species, presented at national and international scientific meetings, and has served as a consultant for the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), the Newark Museum, the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium, CT, and the Yale Peabody Museum. He is the Laboratory Director at Hofstra University and a Research Associate at the AMNH. He is also the Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).
Joana Soares
She is the Executive Secretary of the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) and a Project Officer at the Atlantic International Research Centre (AIR Centre). She has graduated in Aquatic Sciences and holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Porto. She has a solid research background in Ecotoxicology and Endocrine disruption and a strong experience in toxicogenomics. Addressing global changes, in an integrative approach to space, climate, and ocean, focusing on marine biodiversity conservation, are emergent topics of her work.
Christos Arvanitidis
Dr Christos Arvanitidis is the CEO of LifeWatch ERIC, based in Seville, Spain and is a former head of the Biodiversity Laboratory at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture. Christos his research focuses on marine biodiversity, biodiversity informatics, functional diversity, and coastal ecosystems. He works on comparisons of marine biodiversity information patterns deriving from various biological organization levels and scales of observation, trying to develop new approaches to explore their interrelationships. He has been involved in numerous research and education projects, has taken on various editor roles in scientific journals and is an active member or advisor on several councils and boards, including the editorial board of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the Scientific Advisory Council of the International Polychaetes Association (IPA) and the pool of experts of the UN World Ocean Assessment.
Patricia Miloslavich
Dr. Patricia Miloslavich is the Program Lead of the East Antarctic Monitoring Program at the Australian Antarctic Division aiming to deliver sustained, coordinated, and long-term observations of essential variables in key areas of East Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. She was formerly the Executive Director of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) an interdisciplinary body aimed to advance ocean science and address global issues requiring a multidisciplinary approach. She is a marine biologist with a PhD in Oceanography from the University of Quebec at Rimouski, and a retired senior professor from Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela. She was the International Project Officer of the Biology and Ecosystems Panel from the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) coordinating activities to implement global sustained observations of marine biodiversity and ecosystems to help mitigate or manage changes resulting from anthropogenic pressures. Her focus has been to address education, scientific, technological, capacity development, and sustainability challenges in biological oceanography and marine biodiversity with international groups. She has established and coordinated regional and international science networks and implemented multi-national, global scale research programs in ocean sciences and marine biodiversity and currently co-chairs the IPBES Monitoring Assessment. She is a committed science communicator to policy makers and the public with extensive media contributions.
Frank Muller-Karger
He is a Professor in the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida. He studies coastal and marine ecosystems including water quality, biological production, biodiversity, climate change, and human activities. He uses remote sensing and traditional fieldwork to measure how marine life is changing. Frank serves as co-lead of the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), the Marine Life 2030 program endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the NOAA Climate Program Office/Sanctuaries Climate Indicator Task Force. He also is a member of the IOC-UNESCO Steering Committee of the Ocean Best Practices System. For fun, Frank likes to be out on the water on a boat and to paint landscapes using watercolors.
Paula Cristina Sierra-Correa
She is Colombian. She was elected as a co-chair of IODE-IOC-Unesco for the intersectional period 2023-2025. She is a marine biologist with MSc on geo-informatics and Coastal Zone Management at ITC – Twente University, The Netherlands; and PhD on marine ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. Since 1996 she works at INVEMAR. Since 2014 she is a Coordinator of Regional Training Center for Spanish speakers countries into the OTGA strategy of IODE-IOC-Unesco. Between 2018-2020 she was a member or editorial board of The Global Ocean Science Report 2020. She has expertise in coastal planning and policy options, climate change issues (impacts, vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation). She participated in elaboration, execution and coordination of more than 30 research projects (at least 5 international projects). Author of more than 25 scientific publications. Leader of research team with at least 55 people.
Hendrik Segers
He holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Ghent, and has a varied scientific background, ranging from research on the taxonomy of Rotifera and studying the biodiversity of aquatic micro-invertebrates. Dr. Segers is involved in several initiatives building taxonomic architecture, including the Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) and the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). He is currently acting as the Belgian National Focal Point and Clearing House Mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Belgian CBD‑NFP), as well as being involved in the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). In his function, he oversees and provides input to all Belgian activities under the CBD, including those of the Belgian Global Taxonomic Initiative (GTI). Finally, Hendrik also collaborates in the Belgian and European teams during the negotiations on the establishment of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (UNCLOS BBNJ Agreement).
Sheila JJ Heymans
She is Executive Director of the European Marine Board and Professor in Ecosystem Modelling at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland. Sheila sits on the External Advisory Board for various projects including MissionAtlantic, MarinePlan, and EU Blue Cloud2026. She has 30 years’ experience in research on the environmental impacts of ecosystem change and has published >90 peer-reviewed publications. She has a background in ecosystem modelling approaches such as Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecological Network Analysis and has used and taught both techniques extensively since 1993. Recently her main science focus has been the social, economic and ecological impacts of fishing in the world’s oceans and the resilience of these ecosystems to fishing and environmental changes. She was a lead author on the International Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) chapter: “Policy support tools and methodologies for scenario analysis and modelling of biodiversity and ecosystem services”. She is the editor of EMB Policy documents (http://www.marineboard.eu/publications) and her publications are here http://tinyurl.com/zf8wrcb
Ilias Semmouri
Dr. Ilias Semmouri is a postdoctoral researcher at the Blue Growth Research Lab (Ghent University, Belgium). He obtained a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences (2022) at the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology (Ghent University, Belgium). He is a marine biologist, specialised in marine ecology, climate change biology and ecotoxicology. After obtaining his PhD, he started working at the Blue Growth Research Lab and currently teaches courses as “Applied marine ecology”, “Zoology” and “Introduction to ecotoxicology” to students of the Faculty of Bioscience engineering. In addition to his research on plankton communities in the North Sea, he is involved in projects dealing with seaweed aquaculture and nutritional assessments of marine food sources. He has (co)authored, according to Thomson Reuters Web of Science (September 2024), 23 papers in peer reviewed journals, with > 299 non-self-citations, an average citation score of 14.24/paper and an h-index of 10. In Google Scholar, I. Semmouri has a total citation score of 453 and an h-index of 10. A full publication list can be found at https://biblio.ugent.be/person/342E0C56-F0EE-11E1-A9DE-61C894A0A6B4 (official repository). He has over 42 conference contributions at national and international conferences. He was awarded the VLIZ North Sea Award 2023 for his PhD research.
Ulrike Braeckman
She is an Assistant Professor in Marine Ecology at Ghent University and a senior scientist at the Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in Brussels, Belgium. She is intrigued by the effects of climate change and multiple anthropogenic stressor effects on marine ecosystem services, amongst others biodiversity, food provisioning, nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration and the interplay between them. Her study sites include Arctic and Antarctic shelf seas under rapid climate change, but also the heavily used North Sea (with effects of Offshore Windfarm developments in particular).
Matt Frost
He is Head of the International Office at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. A senior leader with over 25 years’ experience, he works extensively on international matters specialising in policy, networking and science diplomacy. Matt has worked on many marine issues including climate change and biodiversity and with a wide range of international bodies including the United Nations, embassies and NGOs. Matt is Chair of the United Kingdom’s (UK) National (Ocean) Decade Committee and Chair of the UK Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP, UKs primary marine climate advice body) and its Overseas Working Group. He is also founder and lead of the World Association of Marine Stations (WAMS), a forum for marine stations from all regions of the world (over 800 marine stations). Matt ‘s first degree and PhD were in marine biology. He has been lead author on large-scale national biodiversity assessments and has published over 160 journal papers, book chapters, reports and articles.
Wee Cheah
Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya. I am a senior lecturer at the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya. My current research primarily focuses on the changes occurring in the atmosphere and ocean, and how these changes influence marine ecosystems. My journey in biodiversity began with an undergraduate project studying freshwater rotifers. I selected a species of freshwater rotifer, Lecane lateralis, from a campus pond as live feed for Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) larvae. Following this, I transitioned to studying the diversity of pearl oysters (Pterridae) found in coral reefs around Malaysia. Realising the importance of understanding the environmental conditions in which these organisms live, I pursued my PhD in Tasmania studying biological oceanography. My research there was focusing on the interactions between phytoplankton and the physico-chemical properties of the Southern Ocean. Upon returning to Malaysia, I resumed my research in tropical regions, where I now also study microbial diversity in mangrove soils, and coral reefs.
Isabel Sousa Pinto
Professor at the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto and member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) as well as Head of its Coastal Biodiversity group. Her main research has been on marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services, how they are changing and why, and on solutions for the biodiversity, climate and pollution crisis. One of her main focus is on algae, studying the macroalgal flora and ecology and biodiversity of macroalgal forests as well as seaweed aquaculture and how it can be used to provide biomass for different applications. She has been working on coastal Nature Based Solutions and on Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture and Restorative Aquaculture as well as actively restoring marine forests. She is promoting biodiversity in integrated Ocean Observations, being the co-chair of MBON (Marine Biodiversity Observation Network), part of GEO BON and in the Steering committee of AtlantOS (Atlantic Ocean Observing System), EOOS (European Ocean Observing System) and Euromarine - European Network of Marine research. She is actively working on the science-policy - society interfaces, working with the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Servcies (IPBES). She was also Member of the Management Committee for the IPBES Global Assessment and its Nexus Assessment. In Portugal she is Member of the “Concelho Nacional de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação” an advisory body for the Minister of Science and Minister of Economy of Portugal, of the Advisory Board of Act4Nature and has been nominated to chair the commission to oversee the development of the Portuguese National Plan for Nature Restoration.
Olivier De Clerck
Olivier De Clerck is a phycologist . His research focuses on genetics, diversity and distributions of marine macroalgae. A substantial part of his research involves culturing seaweed strains to study development, morphogenesis and reproduction of various seaweed species. In many cases such experiments are linked to genetic/genomic studies. The latter research bridges his academic interests with applied phycology aimed at cultivating seaweeds (strain selection and ecophysiology) and developing a European seaweed aquaculture sector. He currently supervises a team of five senior researchers, eight doctoral students and three technicians. According to Google Scholar, he has (co)authored more than 250 papers in peer reviewed journals, with >14.500 citations and an h-index of 58. Olivier is a member of the steering group of the European Marine Biological Research Centre (EMBRC) and president of the International Phycological Society. He coordinated the Ulva genome project in collaboration with several European research institutes and acted as group or work package leader in several European research projects (COST Phycomorph and Seawheat, Horizon Europe United, Ultfarms, Algae Pro Banos and iCulture).
Shane Ahyong
Prof Shane Ahyong has more than 30 years of research experience, focused on aquatic invertebrates. He is currently a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Head of Marine Invertebrates at the Australian Museum and Professor (Adjunct), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales. From 2006–2010, Shane led Marine Invasives Taxonomic Service and Marine Biodiversity & Biosecurity Group at the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand. From 2010, he joined the Australian Museum where he maintains strong local and international collaborations spanning systematics, aquatic biosecurity and conservation. Shane has published more than 350 papers, book chapters and books mostly on marine and freshwater invertebrates. He also serves on the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) and chairs the Steering Committee of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).
Nancy Barahona
Nancy is a fisheries engineer with a Master's degree in environmental education. She has over 30 years of scientific experience at Chile's Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP). She has a vast track record in leading biological and fisheries research teams and extensive experience in monitoring benthic fisheries, with a large geographic coverage exploited by the artisanal fleet in Chile. Nancy has a strong interest in the biological processes associated with these fisheries and the relationships between resources – environment, and users (artisanal fishermen), all contributing to implementing management plans and co-management processes. She represents IFOP in the Benthic Scientific Technical Committee and is a gender focal point in the GEF Humbolt II Chile-Peru project. Additionally, she participates in the Network of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Institutions of the Pacific Alliance.
Diego Nahuel Campos Salazar
Diego is a 29-year-old biologist specializing in small-scale fisheries and conservation in Perú. He has worked for about 6 years with NGOs and the government on spatial zoning in MPAs and participatory monitoring in shellfish fisheries. After getting his MSc degree in Marine and Lacustrine Sciences and Management, he has been working in the Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, a prestigious Peruvian NGO where he analyzes regulations of benthic fisheries in Perú, and promotes science-based improvements to ensure goals in conservation and human well-being. With his fieldwork experience, he promotes the importance of fishers' traditional knowledge for sustainable use.
Penelope Nozithelo Moyo
Penelope is a marine scientist passionate about marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management. Her academic and professional journey has focused on advancing ocean sciences and inspiring future leaders in the field. As a Faculty Intern at Africa Nazarene University, she taught courses on aquatic ecology and related topics, fostering curiosity and knowledge among aspiring scientists.
Currently, she volunteers with a start-up NGO under the Department of Environmental Programs and Projects. Her work addresses environmental degradation and climate change through impactful initiatives.
She is committed to fostering collaboration and advancing global understanding of marine biodiversity through research, education, and outreach. Her work aligns with the objectives of the ECOP Programme and the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, supporting the Ocean Decade’s mission for sustainable ocean science and a healthy planet.
Xavier Raick
His scientific interests are centered on aquatic eco-acoustics and conservation bio-acoustics. At the University of Liège, his PhD focused on coral reef soundscapes, investigating the biophony of reefs in the South Pacific Ocean. His research examined the spatio-temporal variations in sounds produced by fish, invertebrates, and cetaceans across depth gradients, exploring production mechanisms, analysis techniques, and human impacts on these soundscapes. Currently, at Cornell University, he is focused on the spatio-temporal distribution of baleen whales of the genus Balaenoptera, aiming to inform conservation strategies to mitigate anthropogenic impacts. This research is a collaboration between Cornell University, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Additionally, he is involved in cetacean monitoring in the Mediterranean Sea and is broadly interested in all aspects of the ocean!
