President: Joanna Staneva
(Emailos@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Johan van der Molen
(Email)
ECS Representative: Arianna Olivelli
(Emailecs-os@egu.eu)
The Ocean Sciences (OS) Division has the major objective to provide an attractive and productive environment for scientists from Europe and all over the world to gain progress in the various ocean science disciplines and have beneficial interactions with other fields of geosciences. For that purpose, we organise with the teams of conveners the ocean science part of the program of the scientific conference that his held every year during the EGU General Assembly. We give special attention to topics cross-cutting with those of other divisions. We recognise deserving colleagues in various stages of their careers with our Award program: the division awards the Fritdjof Nansen Medal to mid or full career scientists and the Outstanding Early Career Scientists Award for researchers in the early stages of their careers. We also award prizes to outstanding student posters at every General Assembly. The division maintains very strong links with the EGU Publications Committee, and especially with the board of editors of the open access journal Ocean Science (OS). The division also collaborates with other EGU committees in the organisation of relevant topical conferences and summer schools.
Latest posts from the OS blog
A synergy of observations: Filling the gaps in an ocean colour chlorophyll-a record
Chlorophyll-a (chl-a), as the dominant photosynthetic pigment within phytoplankton, provides an indication of the phytoplankton biomass and are essential for understanding global and regional changes in primary production in the oceans. Multiple ocean colour satellites have unlocked routine synoptical scale observations of chl-a which now extends from 1997 to the present day. Differing numbers of satellites can be in orbit relaying observations at any one time, for example SeaWiFS was the only satellite monitoring ocean colour from 1997 until 2002 …
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From Signals to the Sea: Building an AI Sound Library for the Ocean
We chatted with Bram Cuyx, an underwater acoustics AI research engineer at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in Belgium, about his unique path from engineering into marine science. In this interview, he shares how he made the leap from signal processing in electronics to listening to the soundscape of the North Sea, what it’s like to build a sound library for AI, and why acoustics might be the key to better understanding and protecting marine ecosystems. Discover the challenges, surprises, …
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A Record-Breaking Indian Ocean Dipole: What Happened in 2021–2022?
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is generally considered a seasonal mode of variability, developing and decaying within a single year. During 2021–2022, however, negative IOD conditions persisted for approximately 19 months (Figure 1, top left), making this event the longest—and among the strongest—observed since reliable records began. This unusual persistence highlights important aspects of ocean–atmosphere coupling and raises new questions for climate predictability in a warming world. Published in Weather and Climate Dynamics, we document this extraordinary climate event in …
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How do mesoscale eddies modulate CO2 fluxes in the Southern Ocean?
Mesoscale eddies and Southern Ocean carbon sink The Southern Ocean takes up more than a quarter of the anthropogenic CO₂. Its powerful westerly winds, deep overturning circulation, and intense mixing make it a major player in Earth’s climate system. But beneath this large-scale picture lies a world of swirling, dynamic structures that constantly reshape the ocean’s physical and biogeochemical properties: mesoscale eddies. Cyclonic and anticyclonic mesoscale eddies— rotating features with spatial scales of 10–200 km— are far more than background …
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Recent awardees
- 2026
- Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award
The 2026 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to
Tillys Petit for outstanding contributions to understanding the ocean processes that regulate the Atlantic overturning circulation, combining observations and modelling to advance climate research.
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- 2025
- Fridtjof Nansen Medal
The 2025 Fridtjof Nansen Medal is awarded to
Tatiana Ilyina for distinguished research in oceanography to enhance our understanding of the ocean carbon cycle and its critical role in the climate system.
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- 2025
- Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award
The 2025 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to
Jens Terhaar for outstanding research on the biogeochemistry of the ocean carbon cycle and its feedbacks on climate.
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- 2025
- Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award
The 2025 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to
Estel Font Arabian Sea Mode Water: A Key Player in Surface-to-Interior Exchange
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- 2025
- Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award
The 2025 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to
Eun Byeol Cho Intensifying Heat Stresses in Marine Protected Areas
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Current issue of the EGU newsletter
In our February issue, we are following pioneering scientists into extreme places in the name of discovery, from a day-in-the-life of an Antarctic researcher working on the sea ice to how the Viking spaceships took space plasma from theory to observation. Marie Cavitte shares her experience of the Blue Book traineeship in science for policy and Elsa Abs talks about their work with soil microbes. EGU's President thanks our 12,000 volunteers from 2025 and we share the 24 training schools and member-organised meetings we have funded in 2026. Deadlines approach for the EGU26 photo competition and Early-bird registration fees, and there is a job vacancy in the EGU Executive office in Munich, Germany!
All this and much more, in this month's Loupe!
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Current issue of the OS division newsletter
Highlights from the EGU Ocean Sciences Division
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