1st Scientific Advisory Meeting in Monaco on April 3, 2023 from left to right :
"Eric Roettinger (Université de Nice), Nathalie Vigier (I.M.E.V), Thomas Capiten, Rachid Benchaouir (Coraliotech), Aldine Amiel (ONG Kahi Kai) and Audrey Capiten"
At the heart of the Engaged For Ocean structure, the Engaged Scientific and Technical Committee, made up of enthusiasts and players all concerned by maritime and oceanographic issues, defines project themes, selects projects and validates Engaged reports.
Composed of 16 equal members in its full formation, each member completes the committee's intellectual and technical dynamic: scientists, engineers, NGOs, elected representatives, artists, journalists, sailors, shipowners, fishermen, etc.
All with the same aim: to protect and better understand the Ocean
Committee Chairman
She became the first woman to complete a solo, non-stop round-the-world sailing race in the third Vendée Globe (1996-1997). Co-founder of the Ocean and Climate platform, she launched an initiative to recognize the ocean as a common asset of humanity. Catherine has also been an advisor to the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council and a delegate for the sea and coastline at the French Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea. She will be elected Member of the European Parliament on May 26, 2019.
Carine TRAMIER, who holds a degree in Operations Research Engineering, complemented by a Master's degree in Project Management and an Executive MBA, has spent her career in the energy sector, Onshore and Offshore (platforms, reservoirs, pipelines, jetties, FPSO), first with BOUYGUES OFFSHORE and then with SAIPEM after a buyout, in project operational positions in Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Korea and Qatar.
She is particularly involved in innovation in the new energy and maritime industries. Her commitment to CSR and gender equality completes the skills she has acquired.
Purificació Canals, biologist and PhD, is an international marine conservation consultant and Director of Institutional Relations at Underwater Gardens International S.L. Former President of MedPAN (2009-2024), she has led European projects linking marine protected area networks in the Atlantic and Southeast Asia. She is currently working on the creation of a global network of MPA managers.
An expert on UN environmental conventions and a member of various scientific councils, she has taught physiology at Rovira i Virgili University since 1996. In 2020, she was awarded the Cross of St. George and, in 2022, the Alfred Toepfer Medal for her contributions to conservation.
Director of Research at the CNRS, Nathalie Vigier completed her doctoral thesis in Geochemistry at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris - Université Paris VII, followed by an EU Marie Curie post-doc at the Open University (UK). After being recruited by the CNRS in 2003 as a research fellow, she began work at the CRPG (Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques) in Nancy.
In 2013, after a year at the University of Hawaii (USA), she joined LOV (Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche sur Mer) and became deputy director in 2023.
Winner in 2023 of the highest European funding - ERC Advanced Grant
A researcher at INSERM, Eric is studying the formidable capacity of a sea anemone and its possible applications in the fight against cancer and aging.
She is also co-founder of the Kahi Kai association, which aims to promote marine biodiversity in a playful, educational and artistic way.
But also to promote its importance in fundamental and biomedical science and for our society of today and tomorrow.
A native of Nantes and Brittany, she became a paramedic through passion and family tradition. As a teenager, she took a sailing class on an old sailing ship, which completely converted her to sailing and the philosophy that goes with it.
She met Thomas in 2009, and since then they've been working together on this great project for the Ocean. It's only since 2016 that everything has started to take shape.
François Gemenne, Belgian expert in environmental geopolitics and lead author of the IPCC, is dedicated to the study of climate migrations and their repercussions on coastal zones. Born in 1980, he heads the Hugo Observatory and teaches at Sciences Po Paris and the University of Liège. His work calls for environmental migration to be better integrated into international policies, and for adaptive solutions to the challenges posed by rising sea levels.
After a PhD in Developmental Biology (2002-2006) in Villefranche-sur-Mer under the supervision of Dr Thierry LEPAGE, he obtained an EMBO postdoctoral fellowship to join the Pacific Biomedical Research Center at the University of Hawaii (2007-2012) under the supervision of Pr Mark MARTINDALE. In 2012, thanks to ATIP-Avenir funding, he joined IRCAN in Nice to build up his team. Recruited to the CNRS in 2014 as a CR1, he was promoted to DR2 in 2018. His research on cnidarians aims to decipher regeneration mechanisms, resistance to ROS and their longevity.
In 2004, I obtained my PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Université Pierre & Marie Curie (Paris VI). Over the next 15 years, I acquired valuable academic, managerial and private skills while pursuing post-doctoral work.
My experience in biotechnologies and bioprocesses has led me to work on the research and development of therapeutic tools, mainly in gene transfer technology.
Marc Van Peteghem is a French naval architect and co-founder of the VPLP Design naval architecture firm, the Watever-Seatizens association, the Besign (Sustainable Design School) and the Oceanwings wind propulsion system supported by the Ayro company.
Ambassador of the European Climate Pact (Green Deal), French environmentalist, entrepreneur and film-maker specializing in the preservation of the planet. President of the NGOs Thalas Océan and Engaged For Ocean®, he combines science, innovation and cinema to promote the protection of ecosystems.
Director of the prestigious Polytech Marseille engineering school and Vice-President of Aix-Marseille University, Romain Laffont is also a university professor in microelectronics and telecommunications.
This specialist in underwater technologies joined the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea in 1990. In 1991, he founded the "Underwater Robotics and Artificial Intelligence" laboratory, which he headed for eight years before becoming head of the "Robotics Navigation Vision" department, then director and head of the "Underwater Systems" unit and the European Underwater Technology Center.
Expert in paleoclimatic sedimentology, currently Associate Professor at the UNIL Institute of Earth Sciences. Trained in geology at the University of Lausanne and having obtained his PhD in Earth Sciences at ETH Zurich, he was awarded an SNSF fellowship which took him to the University of British Columbia. He then worked as an assistant professor in climate geology at ETH Zurich before joining UNIL in 2020.
He is actively involved in scientific expeditions, including the Arctic Century expedition organized by the Swiss Polar Institute in 2021.
MISSIONS
The " Engaged For Ocean" Scientific and Technical Committee's meetings and choices will determine the Label's funding allocations and the thematic priorities defining the topics addressed by the calls for projects. The Committee is made up of a wide variety of specialists from all fields of oceanography, ranging from fundamental research to engineering, from top-level careers to entrepreneurship. This variety of experience and points of view provides the necessary objectivity to ensure that the most innovative and effective projects are carried out.
The Committee, chaired since November 1, 2024 by Catherine Chabaud, is set to expand and evolve to keep pace with the realities and needs of the Ocean.