The Council

The Officers and Ordinary Members of Council are elected at the Annual General Meeting.

The President is elected for a two-year term (past presidents are listed here) and Ordinary Members each serve for three years. 

The Officers Ordinary Members and Co-opted Members are as follows:

President 2022-2024
Professor Mike Meredith, BAS, website

Incoming President 2023-
Professor Maeve Lohan, University of Southampton, website


Honorary Secretary 2022-2026
Professor Kate Hendry, BAS, website

Honorary Treasurer 2023-
Dr Alexander Brearley, BAS. website


Ordinary Members of Council

Special Interest Groups 2021-2024
Dr Cecilia Liszka, BAS website

Education and Outreach 2023-2026

Dr Robyn Tuerena, Scottish Association for Marine Science, website

Early Career Network Coordinator 2020-2023 
Dr Siddhi Joshi, Independent Marine Scientist, London website

Editor, Challenger Wave 2010-2023
Dr John Allen, University of Portsmouth. website

Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones 2018-2023
Dr Sophie Wilmes. Bangor University. website

Industry Liaison and Technology 2010-2023
Mr Terry Sloane, Planet Ocean Ltd. biography

Communications 2021 - 2024
Dr Anna McGregor, University of Glasgow, website

UK SCOR Representative 2019-2023
Prof Alessandro Tagliabue University of Liverpool  website

Membership and Data Protection 2020-2023
Dr Chelsey Baker, NOC Southampton, website

NOCA Liaison, 2022-2024
Prof. Mark Inall, SAMS, website 

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility working group chair, 2022-present
Dr Gillian Damerell, University of Bergen

Publications and Website Portfolio, 2024-present
Dr Anthony Lucio, NOC Southampton, website

Ex-officio and co-opted members of Council:

Chair, Ocean Challenge Editorial Board
Dr Stephen Dye, Cefas, website

Editor, Ocean Challenge
Ms Angela Colling, Formerly Open University

Policy Lead
Dave Carlin, Defra

Latest News

Workshop on the contribution of UK Arctic Ocean science to the International Polar Year 32/33

12:00 11th June – 16:00 12th June 2025: NOC Southampton (In-person with online option): Registration deadline 16th May

REGISTER HERE

Pre-meeting questionnaire (open to all)

The purpose of this workshop is for the UK Ocean Science community to discuss and then draft a prospectus document outlining the priority Arctic research questions the community would like to address during the run up to, throughout and beyond the International Polar Year 32/33. Additionally, to identify what unique strengths and technologies the UK has to help fill these knowledge gaps.

The second day of the workshop will be dedicated to writing groups, one for each of the priority research questions identified - from both the pre-meeting questionnaire (HERE) and day one discussion. By the end of the meeting, each group will have produced draft text and sourced supporting figures for the prospectus.

Post meeting, the draft will be opened for comments and suggestions from everyone, regardless of whether they were able to attend the workshop or not. It will then be shared with UK funders (UKRI, FCDO, DSIT, ARIA) and potential international programmes with whom we would like to collaborate (e.g. Arctic 2050, Norway). It will form a basis from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities can be built, e.g. at the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September in Northumbria.

To ensure balanced community and ECR representation, and to ensure that the size of the writing groups is efficient and effective, if the number of registrations from individual institutes becomes overwhelming, we may contact individuals or teams and ask that each institute selects a smaller number of individuals to attend in-person. Please wait for confirmation of in-person attendance before finalising travel arrangements.

The workshop will be open to hybrid attendance and contributions on both days.

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Challenger Society Council Position Vacancy

The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to support the next generation of ocean scientists and innovators. CSMS are looking for a new Council member to fill the Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones Portfolio. The successful applicant will administer the travel and research grants available for Early Career Researchers.

The role involves:
-          Receiving applications for the two schemes and responding to applicant inquiries
-          Soliciting and compiling input from the rest of the Council for assessing the applications
-          Communicating with successful and unsuccessful applicants for the two schemes
-          Working with the Honorary Treasurer on allocating funds to successful applicants
-          Following up with award winners on their reporting requirements
-          Attending Council meetings four times a year (in person or online) and contributing to discussions and decision making for CSMS

The usual term for Council members is three years.

For more information about the CSMS Council, please follow this link: https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council

For more information about our Early Career Researcher grants and awards, please follow this link:
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Stepping_Stones
and
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Travel_awards

If you are interested in applying or have any questions regarding the role, please contact kathen@bas.ac.uk

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NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025


The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. The agenda will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join.

To participate, please complete your registration here.

For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk

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