We are happy to welcome Mr Adam Leadbetter and Ms Elena Tell as the co chairs to this new ODIS Steering Group.

Mr Adam Leadbetter has been involved in environmental data management for over 20 years: as a staff member at the British Oceanographic Data Centre; leading the data management team at Ireland’s Marine Institute; developing a sustainability data and insights function in a multi-national consumer electronics company; and most recently as a consultant to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission leading the Decade Coordination Office for Ocean Data Sharing. He joined the ODIS Steering Group as a member state nominee from Ireland, having previously being involved with ODIS at the beginning of the OceanInfoHub project. He looks forward to working with the ODIS Steering Group and Operation Group to evolve ODIS to allow for data access and to build new data products to support the work of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable development.   Ms Elena Tell a PhD in Physics and Senior Researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), her work focuses on the management, standardization, and exploitation of oceanographic data, particularly physical and chemical data. Her research includes the generation of high-quality time series and climatologies, the development of automated data acquisition systems on research vessels, and the maintenance of the institutional tide gauge network. She has participated in 25 oceanographic cruises, many as hydrography lead, gaining extensive experience in in situ data acquisition and validation.

Since 2017, she has headed the Spanish National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC-Spain), coordinating technical and scientific activities related to marine data management, quality control, and dissemination. Under her leadership, automated workflows have significantly reduced data processing times in line with international standards and FAIR principles. She actively promotes open data and represents Spain in several IOC-UNESCO bodies, including IODE national representation, while also contributing to training, outreach, and academic supervision.

The full list of Steering Group members is available on OceanExpert.

The eDNA expeditions Operations Consultant will support the project and the OBIS secretariat by providing administrative, communication and scientific support across the eDNA expeditions II
project and other OBIS eDNA activities. This role primarily deals with managing the practical organization, logistics, site engagement, and overall reporting for the project, aligning with the core functions of the project’s Work Package 1 (Coordination of eDNA sampling across Marine Protected Areas).

Applications are open until 26 January 2026 (17h CET) and we are offering a 11 month contract to start between February and December 2026.

all info is available here

Through the sustained commitment of its research community and long-standing international collaborations, the Institute plays a pivotal role in advancing marine and polar science and in promoting the protection and sustainable use of the ocean environment.
IOPAN leads a national consortium comprising the Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute, the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, the University of Gdańsk, the Maritime Institute of the Gdynia Maritime University, the Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk, and the University of Szczecin. Together, these institutions constitute Poland’s National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). IOPAN’s expertise in satellite remote sensing, in situ observation systems, and environmental data modelling—including through the SatBałtyk system—underpins national environmental monitoring and contributes to international research efforts. This data stewardship supports climate science, marine conservation, and sustainable ocean governance, aligning the Institute with global standards for oceanographic data management.

IODE welcomes IOPAN as lead institution of the newly designated IODE National Oceanographic Data Centre, expanding the network to 65 NODCs, including 11 accredited centres. The designated NODC contact point is Dr Eng. Marcin Wichorowski Dr Wichorowski serves as Head of Data and IT Infrastructure Management at the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where he oversees the development and operation of systems supporting oceanographic data stewardship and digital infrastructure. His leadership is central to IOPAN’s role as Poland’s National Oceanographic Data Center.

Links social 

https://www.instagram.com/instituteofoceanologypan/

https://www.facebook.com/InstytutOceanologiiPAN

https://pl.linkedin.com/company/iopan

see the overview of all IODE Data Centers HERE

Read the entire article here

ICAN 2025: Building Knowledge, Taking Action
Virtual Workshop

September 30, October 1-2 2025
1pm-4pm UTC

The 2025 International Coastal Atlas Workshop will be held online from September 30 to October 2, 2025, with a series of live and recorded content. The workshop will provide an opportunity to present and discuss recent innovations in atlases, how atlases are answering the Ocean Decade Challenges and it will also investigate synergies with other initiatives around the world.

The Organizing Committee of ICAN 2025 invites abstracts for online live or recorded presentations for:

• Session I – Innovative Approaches to Atlas Development: Sharing creative approaches to knowledge production and encouraging action through atlas development
• Session II – Connections to the Ocean Decade: aiming to explore how projects are answering the Ocean Decade Challenges
• Session III – Knowledge to Action: exploring how projects can encourage various types of actions around the worlds

The workshop is free and open to all with pre-registration. We welcome submissions that may fit the above themes, and can accommodate both live and pre-recorded presentations.

Submit your Abstract here
(Abstract submission open to September 22, 2025)

Register for the Workshop here

(Registration open to September 29, 2025)

This course will give an introductory view of data quality assurance and control (QA/QC), and focus on several quality control in a number of thematic areas relevant to the UN Ocean Decade.

More information on this course: https://oceanexpert.org/event/4842

It will run from 10-21 November 2025 and applications are open till 19 September 2025

The previous version dated from 2016.

This document emphasizes the importance of data management planning in activities which collect, create or otherwise acquire ocean data, ensuring data are preserved and accessible for analysis and to inform and underpin evidence and decision making. A Data Management Plan is a document outlining how to handle data throughout its lifecycle, ensuring proper collection, documentation, accessibility, and preservation. Key topics to be considered in a Data Management Plan include data collection and categorization, storage and processing, analysis, publication and access, archival, reuse, and erasure.

Additional benefits of a Data Management Plan include improving data maturity and literacy, effective storage and archival, efficient project or programme delivery and improved compliance with data sharing, contractual and licensing arrangements.

A detailed Data Management Plan Template is provided, covering the entire data lifecycle and guiding consideration of any ethical and legal issues around the data which may arise at any or all stages of the data lifecycle. Each section contains multiple subsections with specific questions to guide the development of a comprehensive Data Management Plan.

The report is now published and available: https://oceanexpert.org/document/36884

On 11th June there was the successful event on: From Strategy to Action: Mobilizing Partnerships for Ocean Capacity Development, organized together with the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Germany.

Summary:

Equitable capacity is key to accelerating global progress in sustainable management and use of the ocean, functioning as a baseline for nations to overcome current and future crises and share benefits fairly. In this context, this side event is a Call for Global Ocean Capacity Development action, opening the opportunity for ongoing multi-stakeholder collaborative initiatives to showcase solutions and discuss integration of a joint roadmap towards the implementation of the UNESCO IOC Capacity Development Strategy 2023-2030. The event builds on UNESCO IOC Capacity Development cross-cutting initiatives, led by its Global Programmes and Regional Subsidiary Bodies, and implemented by integrated action with the ocean community. In light of the work of the IOC Group of Experts on Capacity Development in developing an implementation plan for the IOC Capacity Development Strategy, the discussions will focus on: (1) the critical global and regional needs on ocean science capacity development; (2) ways on how progress is being assessed and approached by various initiatives; and (3) recent efforts of existing and potential partners such as other UN agencies, intergovernmental institutions, and international initiatives leading capacity development in marine and maritime space, in a call to a jointly coordinated to share and commit to supporting global collaboration in ocean science capacity development.

more info on this event: https://oceanexpert.org/event/4799

on 12th June we the event  Advancing “Skills, knowledge, technology and participation for all”: An Interactive Marketplace for CD Tools and Methodologies in collaboration with the IOC-CDHUB and CDF took place.

summary:

The event served as a platform to raise awareness of available resources, foster dialogue among diverse stakeholders, and encourage engagement with IOC through its capacity development platforms. It also provided an opportunity to gather feedback on how these tools can be further improved to enhance IOC’s coordination role in promoting and delivering inclusive and impactful capacity development.

more info on the event: https://oceanexpert.org/event/4800