The Council

The Officers and Ordinary Members of Council are elected at the Annual General Meeting.

The President is elected for a two-year term (past presidents are listed here) and Ordinary Members each serve for three years. 

The Officers Ordinary Members and Co-opted Members are as follows:

President 2022-2024
Professor Mike Meredith, BAS, website

Incoming President 2023-
Professor Maeve Lohan, University of Southampton, website


Honorary Secretary 2022-2026
Professor Kate Hendry, BAS, website

Honorary Treasurer 2023-
Dr Alexander Brearley, BAS. website


Ordinary Members of Council

Special Interest Groups 2021-2024
Dr Cecilia Liszka, BAS website

Education and Outreach 2023-2026

Dr Robyn Tuerena, Scottish Association for Marine Science, website

Early Career Network Coordinator 2020-2023 
Dr Siddhi Joshi, Independent Marine Scientist, London website

Editor, Challenger Wave 2010-2023
Dr John Allen, University of Portsmouth. website

Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones 2018-2023
Dr Sophie Wilmes. Bangor University. website

Industry Liaison and Technology 2010-2023
Mr Terry Sloane, Planet Ocean Ltd. biography

Communications 2021 - 2024
Dr Anna McGregor, University of Glasgow, website

UK SCOR Representative 2019-2023
Prof Alessandro Tagliabue University of Liverpool  website

Membership and Data Protection 2020-2023
Dr Chelsey Baker, NOC Southampton, website

NOCA Liaison, 2022-2024
Prof. Mark Inall, SAMS, website 

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility working group chair, 2022-present
Dr Gillian Damerell, University of Bergen

Publications and Website Portfolio, 2024-present
Dr Anthony Lucio, NOC Southampton, website

Ex-officio and co-opted members of Council:

Chair, Ocean Challenge Editorial Board
Dr Stephen Dye, Cefas, website

Editor, Ocean Challenge
Ms Angela Colling, Formerly Open University

Policy Lead
Dave Carlin, Defra

Latest News

Potential Availability of NERC Ship Time During the 25/26 Programme Year

The NERC Marine Facilities Programme for 2025/2026 for the RRS Discovery and the RRS James Cook has been published on the Marine Facilities Planning website.

The RRS Discovery programme currently contains a 79 day alongside slot between the 2nd of November 2025 and the 19th of January 2026, which is available for science delivery if funded science projects can make use of this time. Due to the location of the vessel, the ship is most likely to be able to deliver fieldwork in the North and East Atlantic regions. Some support for science capability within the National Marine Equipment Pool is potentially available, although there is no capacity for use of autonomous vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. Any fieldwork within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will need the appropriate diplomatic clearance submitted to coastal states at least 6 months in advance, and to NMF with sufficient lead time for processing via the FCDO.

If interested in making use of this ship time, please contact NERC Marine Planning (marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org) ASAP to start discussions.

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THE MARINE FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD – CAN YOU HELP?

The Marine Facilities Advisory Board advises the National Oceanography Centre on marine facilities and services, including the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP), the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility.

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NOC Association AGM 2025

NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025

The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. Although discussion topics are being finalised, we will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join. To participate, please complete your registration here. For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk

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