NOC reaffirms commitment to European Marine Board

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has reaffirmed its commitment to working alongside other European countries for the advancement of ocean science, by becoming one of the founding members of the reformed European Marine Board following its transformation to a new legal entity as an international non-profit association under Belgian law (IVZW).

The European Marine Board (EMB) was originally formed as an expert board of the European Science Foundation and operated as such for almost 20 years. During that time the EMB has flourished under the European Science Foundation, expanding its membership, activities and gaining a reputation for providing high-quality science policy advice to underpin the marine research agenda in Europe.

The European Marine Board is an important forum for research institutions across all of Europe to collaborate and identify emerging scientific issues and includes marine science representatives from member and non-member countries of the EU.

The NOC has been an active supporter of the Board since the mid 1990s and the UK science community has made significant contributions to EMB reports in areas as diverse as Investigating Life in Extreme Environments, Future Marine Technology, Linking the Oceans and Human Health and Underwater Heritage of Europe.

The NOC is also part of the European Marine Board Communications Panel, which exchanges ideas on events, communication methods and best practice, assists EMB members in promoting and communicating marine science across Europe, communicates Marine Board activities and helps popularise marine science by advocating more ocean literacy.

Executive Director of the National Oceanography Centre, Professor Edward Hill said, “Continuing to support the European Marine Board was an easy decision for the NOC and we will continue to actively participate and collaborate with our European colleagues and play an active role in setting the science agenda.”

Welcoming the NOC’s membership, European Marine Board, Executive Secretary, Niall McDonough, said “we are delighted that NOC has joined our new EMB IVZW association. NOC is one of Europe’s leading marine science institutes and has been a long-standing supporter of EMB. We look forward to working with NOC colleagues to continue to shape the future agenda for marine science in Europe.”

Chairman of the European Marine Board, Prof Dr Jan Mees, Director of the Flanders Marine Institute, said, “Professor Ed Hill, Director of NOC, has contributed enormously to the work of the European Marine Board. He was a driving force behind the Ostend Declaration in 2010 and chaired the Rome Declaration process in 2014. He was also central in setting the science priorities for our flagship Navigating the Future IV position paper. I am very glad that EMB will continue to benefit from the active participation of Ed and his NOC colleagues in the years to come.”