Overview   Biology

EMODnet will be well represented at the 3rd edition of the Digital Ocean Forum (DOF) in Brussels, Belgium (12-13 June 2024). As the key pillar for in situ marine data services, EMODnet is a key contributor to the public infrastructure backbone of the European Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) through the EDITO-Infra project, in collaboration with the Copernicus Marine Service. The high-level event will be web streamed, allowing you to follow all new European DTO developments live. Stay tuned for more information coming soon on our social media channels!

Two ongoing EU Horizon Europe projects, MPA Europe and MARCO-BOLO, are working on producing species distribution models to support conservation action. The underlying species occurrence information is sourced from EMODnet Biology holdings available in OBIS through the European regional OBIS node (EurOBIS). MPA Europe and MARCO-BOLO are collaborating and exchanging experiences in distribution modeling. As a case study, models for the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) were developed and compared, showing that different approaches successfully capture the species' distribution.

As EMODnet Biology reaches the end of the first year of Phase V, the thematic provides an overview of activities and a forward look to the year ahead.

EMODnet made waves in May at a number of key European and International Conferences. EMODnet’s engagement with the industry-led Geospatial World Forum 2024 in Rotterdam, Netherlands in mid-May featured dialogues with Hydrographic offices and EMODnet Associated Partner Fugro. This was followed by a large delegation of EMODnet experts at the International Conference on Marine Data and Information Systems, held in Bergen, Norway. The same week EMODnet attended the European Maritime Days 2024 in Svendborg, Denmark, where EMODnet co-organised a workshop with the EU Blue Economy Observatory and European Environment Agency and celebrated with EC DG MARE and CINEA 10 years of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF, formerly EMFF). EMODnet also had an exhibition booth, in partnership with Seabed 2030 and the International Hydrographic Offices (IHO). EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service also co-organised a booth for the EU Digital Twin Ocean. June 2024 is also set to bring EMODnet’s key partnerships to the forefront with EMODnet speaking at the Copernicus Marine Service General Assembly and Digital Ocean Forum, providing expert mentors to the OceanHack2024 and running a joint webinar on EU marine data services for the UN Ocean Decade. See below and stay tuned for more information!

Secure your spot at European Maritime Day 2024, taking place in Svendborg, Denmark, on 30th-31st May 2024. EMODnet will be there with an exhibition booth and co-organising a joint workshop on 2 EC services ‘EMODnet and the Blue Economy Observatory’ to be held on-site on 31st May late morning.  All plenary sessions will be live-streamed, however on-site participation is recommended for full engagement with the hundreds of marine and maritime stakeholders attending. Register by 10th May 2024: Register now for the European Maritime Day 2024!The EC are also hosting the European Blue Forum on 30th May 2024 back-to-back with EMD 2024, with separate registration.

The Thalassa 2024 Marine Sciences Conference, organised by EMODnet Associated Partner the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), will take place on 28th-29th May 2024 in Larnaca, Cyprus. Registration is open until 15th April here.

EMODnet has multiple oral and poster presentations at the International Conference on Marine Data and Information Systems (IMDIS) taking place in Bergen, Norway, and online on 27th-29th May 2024. Join the large SeaDataNet, EMODnet and wider data management community for the latest developments in this space. Registration is open (early bird rate by 15th April). 

This course is suitable for anyone who would like to learn about how to use version control tracking changes and effective collaboration on their projects. This 2-day course will take place online and you will be introduced to the most popular open-source software for version control (Git) and the most popular platform for sharing and collaborating on projects online (GitHub) using a graphical interface to both (GitKraken Client). The course is designed to get researchers started with version control, demonstrate how to collaborate effectively as well as introduce version control best practices, as practiced by research software engineering teams.

On 29-30 April 2024 the EMODnet Steering Committee (SC) met online for its 20th meeting. The open session was attended by diverse representatives of the EC and EU agencies, including CINEA, EC DG MARE, DEFIS, ENV, RTD, JRC, and the European Environment Agency (EEA), with a dedicated discussion on EMODnet for EU Policy, Chaired by Rémy Denos, EC DG MARE. EMODnet thematic and data ingestion Coordinators together with the Central Portal technical team presented the latest EMODnet offer and ongoing developments. The closed session included operational discussions, including planning for the next EMODnet hackathon ‘Open Sea Lab 4.0’ (more news to follow).

EMODnet has a key role in the EDITO project underpinning the European Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTO). In this capacity, EMODnet presented at the “DTO4ECOPS” satellite event in Barcelona on 9 April, as part of the Ocean Decade week ahead of the United Nations Ocean Decade Conference. This engaging session brought together leading European and international marine data services to explore the impact and potential of DTO's. A key focus was on how these innovative tools can empower Early Career Ocean Professionals, fostering new opportunities and insights in ocean science and management. The Central Portal technical team of EMODnet (VLIZ and the EMODnet Secretariat) continue to coordinate EMODnet’s contribution to the European Digital Twin Ocean via the EDITO infrastructure project. This is increasingly engaging all EMODnet thematics to enable EMODnet’s full offer to be made available in cloud-optimised formats on the EDITO platform. The latest developments will be showcased at the Digital Ocean Forum (DOF) on 12-13 June 2024 in Brussels.

EMODnet formally kicked off its Vision 2035 activities in April 2024 with the first meeting of the EMODnet Vision 2035 Drafting Group, which is coordinating a Vision to 2035 of EMODnet’s service evolution. The Group consists of representatives from all EMODnet thematics, data ingestion, central portal and Secretariat, also including Sea-basin Checkpoint Coordinators, EMODnet Associated Partners and key actors from the EU and Global stakeholder community. A key input to the Vision 2035 will be a public consultation, planned for launch in early summer 2024, open to all. Stay tuned to have your say in EMODnet’s future evolution!

This year colleagues from NIMRD, Romania hosted the EMODnet Biology annual meeting. The meeting took place over two days, on April 16th and 17th and had 20 colleagues joining on-site and 16 others online. Back-to-back EMODnet Biology organised a workshop with Regional Sea Conventions.

This year, the EGI federation of computing and storage resource providers are holding their annual EGI conference in Lecce, Italy, in collaboration with the CMCC Foundation from 30th September until 4th October 2024. Different contribution types are accepted (short and long talks, posters, and demonstrations) across a variety of topics. Deadline: 24th April, 2024. 

On April 18th, EMODnet Biology will host a half-day workshop that is aimed at the Regional Sea Conventions. The workshop will represent an important opportunity of interaction, and of collection of feedback and of gaps and needs by RSCs. in terms of data, products and/or tools required for marine ecosystem status assessment.

The Thalassa 2024 Marine Sciences Conference, organised by EMODnet Associated Partner the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), will take place on 28th-29th May 2024 in Larnaca, Cyprus. Registration is open until 15th April here.

BLOG #1 (March 2024): EMODnet’s technical state-of-the-art as a unified Portal. The EMODnet EC in situ marine data service is enabled by a large expert community of technical experts in thematic data, data and web services, data ingestion and more. One year on from the launch of EMODnet’s unified Portal, EMODnet launches a technical blog that brings the technical developments and achievements of the EMOD-network to the forefront, championed by EMODnet’s Technical Coordinator, Conor Delaney. The blog is intended for wider stakeholders who use and/or contribute to EMODnet and would like to know more about the latest state-of-the-art in EMODnet services. The technical blog will be released quarterly.

The EMODnet Biology/EurOBIS team presents an invaluable training course designed to empower data providers in understanding the EMODnet Biology project and its connections with international initiatives like OBIS and GBIF.

EMODnet, represented by EMODnet Biology Coordinator Joana Beja, VLIZ, Belgium, presented EDITO-Infra and EMODnet’s contribution in a webinar hosted the European project Iliad titled ‘Digital Twins of the Ocean and Biodiversity’.

The Digital Ocean Forum (DOF) 2024 takes place on 13th June 2024, from 10:00 to 16:30 CET at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels. This high-level gathering will be hybrid and open to the public and will feature the prototype of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO), powered by EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service via EDITO. The DOF 2024 Forum will showcase the capabilities of the EU DTO as a Commission public service, building on existing EU marine data service capability and demonstrating the European DTO's role as an additional asset to drive applications and solutions for ocean resource management, ocean and climate change and a green transition and sustainable operations for the Blue Economy. Discover how the EU DTO aligns with the Green Deal and the UN Decade of Science for Sustainable Development.

The Horizon Europe MSP4Bio project used EMODnet multidisciplinary marine in situ data, including from Bathymetry, Biology and many other thematic data, to inform an Ecological-Socio-Economic (ESE) management framework used for science-based MSP to safeguard and restore biodiversity in a coherent European MPA network. Read the use case here.