Short History
Ocean Challenge was first thought of in 1987. It resulted from a 'meeting of minds' between certain Challenger Council members (notably Martin Angel, Peter Foxton and Anthony Laughton, then Challenger Society President), who were considering the possibility of a Challenger Society publication, and Angela Colling and John Wright, who were wondering how to set up an accessible, multidisciplinary oceanography publication. The Council were keen to use the experience gained by the Open University Oceanography Course Team in making complex scientific material understandable for their students; and informing the scientifically literate layperson about ocean science remains one of the aims of Ocean Challenge. Ocean Challenge also aims to bring together scientists in various disciplines of oceanography by making different subject areas of marine science accessible to as many readers as possible.
Peter Foxton became the first Editorial Board Chair. He was followed by Bill Prior-Jones, Rachel Mills, Tim Jickells and Mark Brandon. The Editorial Board has evolved over the years, although some stalwarts of the first Board still remain.
Ocean Challenge strives to have a European outlook, and several issues have been published in cooperation with the European Foundation of Marine Science and Technology Societies (EFMS). Until recently, the Editorial Board benefitted from the input of Hjalmar Thiel (Hamburg), who for many years acted as the Board's European representative.
Latest News
Challenger Society History of Oceanography SIG Webinars
The Challenger Society Special Interest Group on the History of Oceanography will be having a series of zoom webinars in 2025. The talks will be at 5pm UK time on Wednesday evenings (3rd Wed of the month):
Job vacancy
The Ocean Census is actively seeking a Workshop Coordinator to join our dynamic team to manage the workshop and related processes with an international alliance of partners. The deadline for applications is 15th December 2024. Link to further details: https://oceancensus.org/job-opportunity-workshop-coordinator/
Socio-oceanography Workshop sets sights on key climate and ocean challenges
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is calling on scientists and researchers to participate in its fourth annual Socio-Oceanography Workshop, hosted in collaboration with the Marine Social Science Network.
This international event, set to take place at NOC’s Southampton site 26-28 February 2025, will gather experts across natural and social sciences to tackle the pressing issues linking people and the changing ocean.
This year’s workshop will focus on four key themes, including the impact of climate change-driven shifts in marine species distribution and how these changes will affect the way the UK marine environment is perceived, valued, and managed.
Other topics include integrating digital humans into environmental digital twins, addressing biases in research related to marine carbon dioxide removal, and exploring how local communities can engage in participatory environmental monitoring.