Marking one year of BIOcean5D, the full team convened for our full general assembly at Nantes University, France, from 30 Jan to 1 Feb 2024.
There’s still much we don’t know about marine biodiversity, despite its fundamental importance in planetary and human health. BIOcean5D seeks to explore marine life and how it changes across 5 dimensions: 3-dimensional space, time, and human impact.
With members of the team spread across 11 countries, 2024’s general assembly was a chance to bring (almost) everyone together and reflect on our first year as a consortium.
Exploring life beneath the waves
Ultimately, we hope that by measuring, monitoring and understanding marine biodiversity, and involving citizens in our research, we’ll be able to inform the sustainable management and long-term preservation of our marine ecosystems.
This year’s general assembly brought with it a tangible sense of progress and that, together, we’ve begun our mission to better understand life beneath the waves. Important foundations have been built, results are beginning to emerge, and our one-of-a-kind set of samples and data collected with our partners from across Europe’s coasts is continuing to grow.
The project comprises 8 interconnected work packages (WPs): 7 scientific and one operational. Members from each WP, including a number of early career researchers, shared highlights from the past year, emerging results and plans for the future.
To encourage fruitful discussion, a series of workshops were organised throughout the week. Topics included:
- Building an international community focused on species distribution modelling, following our workshop in September
- Strategies for science-to-policy, including lessons from law, economics and philosophy to redefine our relationship with nature and build an integrated ‘oceanology’ vision for marine conservation (don’t forget to sign up to this year’s summer school in Spain, focused on science-to-policy!)
- Our unique set of samples and data collected with our partners from across Europe’s coasts – including highlights from year 1 and excitement for year 2
What’s next?
Our coordinator Colomban de Vargas closed the event, reflecting on our journey so far and looking ahead to our next year – fuelled by a shared sense of progress and enriching collaboration. Here’s to year 2 of BIOcean5D!
With grateful thanks to Damien Eveillard, Colomban de Vargas and Amandine Nunes-Jorge for organising the General Assembly.