Terry Sloane

Industry Liaison and Technology 2010-17

My role on the Challenger Council:

Liaison with marine scientific industry to ensure that membership has access to news, research opportunities, commercial opportunities and employment opportunities from within the ocean business community.
Liaison with AMSI (Association of Marine Scientific industries) trade association to provide an independent conduit to and from appropriate government organisations and policy makers from a lobbying, economic and business perspective and with the international oceanographic, hydro graphic and meteorological instrument manufacturers and suppliers.
To strengthen the relationship between the two organisations to provide a coherent business and science contact point to government and the media.
To provide the council and membership with information on developing technologies, “horizon thinking” sponsorship opportunities, and technology search capabilities, and to respond to membership requests for technical information.
To provide industry with an overview of the future requirements of the oceanographic research community and to publicise requirements of membership within the instrument manufacturers community.
To facilitate introductions between membership with respect to joint venture and licensing opportunities.

How I got into science?

From a very young age I wanted to do “underwater stuff” and trained as an electronics engineer in the mid 70’s working for Marconi Space and Defence Systems, Naval Division on under water acoustics and weapon systems and have been working with underwater technology ever since with a brief break into meteorology. Shortly after qualifying I joined NBA Controls, as a designer working on CTD systems, tide gauges, current meters and wave buoys. The application of electronics in the marine environment has always been extremely challenging. We have placed men on the moon, but not on the deepest seabed of our own planet, have explored other worlds in greater detail than our own oceans and we continue to do fantastic science and engineering on what is realistically a shoe string budget.

Who inspires me?

Like most people of my age I was first exposed to the underwater world through the TV and the exploits of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Hans & Lotte Hass and Troy Tempest! Since those formative days I have been fortunate to work alongside some of the best engineers in the business and still do.

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.