Europe

A European Regional Committee (EuroCoML) for Census of Marine Life was formed in 2003. The committee is comprised of scientists from throughout Europe. EuroCoML’s aims are to: expand partnerships and coordination with relevant European programmes and organisations also in tandem with the general growth of the CoML; increase European participation in several particular CoML projects where untapped potential remains; improve marine taxonomy and species data in the European region; and improve biodiversity and ecosystem information for applied resource management in waters where European nations hold major influence. EuroCoML headquarters are based at the Scottish Association for Marine Science Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory in the UK.

EuroCoML Co-Chair: Isabel Sousa Pinto, University of Porto, Portugal

Isabel Sousa Pinto graduated in Biology from the University of Porto, and finished her PhD in Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1994. She is a Professor at the University of Porto and Head of the Coastal Biodiversity lab at Cimar: Centre for Marine and Environmental Research. She is also a member of the Board of Cimar. She is the coordinator or PI of several national and EU-funded projects like BIOPLATFORM, SEAWEEDAFRICA, SEABEE, MARBENA, MARBEF, BIODIVERSA and BIOSTRAT. She is also involved in several outreach projects to involve schoolchildren and the general public in the research monitoring and protection of marine biodiversity. She is also on the Steering Committee of the EPBRS: European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy. Her main research interests are in phycology, including the ecology and use of seaweeds and the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.

EuroCoML Co-Chair: Henn Ojaveer, University of Tartu, Estonia

Henn Ojaveer received his PhD from the University of Tartu (Estonia) in 1997. Since then he has been employed by the Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, where he is currently acting as a Research Director. The main field of his research is ecology of the Baltic Sea with emphasis on intermediate and upper trophic levels of mainly the pelagic ecosystem and alien species. Currently he is a PI of several national and international projects like EU-financed projects MARBENA, EUR-OCEANS, INCOFISH, SAFMAMS and the US State Department financed alien invasive species project. He is also involved in the History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) component of CoML and the Wold Bank funded Baltic Sea Large Marine Ecosystems project (BSRP) as a Local Program Manager. He is a member of several ICES working groups and is a national representative to two ICES scientific committees. He has recently created a new curriculum on ‘Fisheries management of waterbodies’ in Pärnu College, University of Tartu.

EuroCoML Project Manager: Bhavani Narayanaswamy, Scottish Association for Marine Science Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, UK

For more information and a list of committee members, visit the EuroCoML website: http://www.eurocoml.org/.

Affiliated Projects in Europe

European Tracking of Predators in the Atlantic (EUTOPIA), led by Dr. David Sims (Marine Biological Association of the UK)

Environmental Modulation of Biodiversity Ecosystem Dynamics (EMBED)

Europe also supports a Regional Node (EurOBIS) for the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). It is hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute in Belgium, with support from the EU Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MarBEF) Project. Contact Francisco Hernandez.