Workshop participants under the microscope! Back row: Fábio Matos, Jonathan Gula, Henrique Queiroga, Rob Young, Sven Laming, Kirstin Meyer, Jozée Sarrazin, Craig Young, Fabio De Leo; Front Row: Jim Birch, Morane Clavel-Henry, Marina Cunha, Clara Rodrigues, Florence Pradillon, Anna Metaxas. Via videoconference: Luciana Génio, Dhugal Lindsay, Stace Beaulieu, Francisco Campuzano, Hiromi Watanabe, Susan Mills

Senior staff scientist Fabio De Leo presented a talk on ONC’s potential to host a new research program based on sustained observations of deep-sea meroplankton at a workshop hosted at University of Aveiro in Portugal during the last week of May.

The European Marine Research Network’s “Advances in ocean biological observations: Sustained system for deep-ocean meroplankton” workshop involved world experts on deep-sea biodiversity and conservation, and was co-sponsored by InterRidge and ISblue.

“This was a great opportunity to bring to the international community how ONC can use its long-term ocean observing infrastructure in the deep northeast Pacific to contribute to a global program to sample and study meroplankton,” says De Leo, whose research focuses on benthic ecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem function.

The international workshop was organized around three main themes: 1) Advances in the knowledge of deep-sea larval diversity and distribution; 2) Recent developments in plankton observation approaches and technology; and 3) Data integration and oceanographic modelling.

The main goals were to discuss: 1) How the existing gaps in the knowledge on connectivity and resilience in the deep ocean can be addressed by sustained observations of larval processes; 2) What are the technological challenges and added societal value of this approach; and 3) What synergies can be built with deep-ocean observation initiatives and existing observatory networks.

The workshop was attended by 15 scientists, and others participated via videoconference from the U.S., Japan and Jamaica.