The Challenger Society for Marine Science

Background

7th-11th September 2026: Challenger Society for Marine Science Conference
Bangor, UK

The Challenger Society’s biennial conference is returning to Bangor University for the fourth time, 42 years after the very first modern Challenger conference which was also held in the city.

The conference has become the UK’s largest gathering of marine scientists attracting hundreds of leading UK marine scientists, science managers and early career scientists. It provides an excellent opportunity for networking as well as giving early career scientists the opportunity to present their work in a friendly environment.

Over the course of the 2026 conference nearly 200 marine scientists will present their work covering all aspects of the marine sciences. The conference will also see the award to the prestigious Challenger Medal to Professor Ric Williams of Liverpool University and keynote talks from Emma McKinley, Kate Hendry and Gerard McCathy. There will also be panel discussions on planning for inclusive fieldwork, and on opportunities arising from the next International Polar Year (2032-33).

Conference Timetable

Download conference timetable here.

Directories for poster and oral presentations are provided further below.

Sponsorship

We kindly acknowledge the support by our two key sponsors, whose generous support is helping make the 2026 Challenger Society conference possible.

We also gratefully acknowledge our other conference sponsors, whose valued support contributes to the success of the event.

Challenger Medal Winner 2026

We are delighted to report that this year’s Challenger Medal will be awarded to Prof. Ric Williams from the University of Liverpool. Throughout Ric’s career he has made a fundamental and sustained contribution to our understanding of the ocean’s role in the climate system from microscale turbulence to global centennial-scales phenomena. This work has also provided the scientific community and policy makers with tools to understand and predict future change. Ric has also shown his teaching skills by conceptualising complex themes in his textbook Ocean dynamics and the carbon cycle. His dedication to training the next generation of scientists is shown through mentoring a vast network of early career researchers across the whole breadth of marine science and fostering an inclusive environment and we enjoyed reading the personal testaments from ECR’s. Lastly his leadership within NERC panels and national committee has helped shape the direction of marine research.

Please join us for his Challenger Medal talk and celebrate Ric’s achievements on Thursday afternoon of conference.

Ric Williams (University of Liverpool): “Oceans and climate in a warming world” on Thursday afternoon

The climate system is warming over our lifetimes through emission of greenhouse gases. The global ocean plays a crucial role in moderating surface warming by sequestering excess heat and carbon from the atmosphere. Atmospheric properties are taken up by the ocean through air-sea transfer via the surface mixed layer and then a physical transfer into the underlying interior. This physical transfer is referred to as ventilation and involves the effects of advection and stirring by the circulation and mixing by microscale turbulence. This ventilated transfer might be expected to be similar for excess heat and carbon. In accord with this view, observations reveal excess heat and carbon being preferentially stored in subtropical latitudes in the upper 1 to 2 kilometres, referred to as the thermocline. However, this similarity in ocean heat and carbon responses breaks down when there are differences in their sources and feedback processes. For example, historically, ocean uptake of heat is diagnosed from climate models to occur preferentially over the Southern Ocean, while ocean uptake of excess carbon is more evenly distributed over both hemispheres. Finally, a North Atlantic example is discussed in terms of how the Gulf Stream affects the downstream ocean carbon cycle.

We are excited to announce our confirmed keynote speakers for the Challenger 2026 conference.

Emma McKinley (Cardiff University): “The Ocean Research we need for the Ocean we want: The role of ocean literacy beyond the UN Ocean Decade” on Tuesday morning

Dr Emma McKinley is a Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff University. Her research focuses on understanding the complex relationships between society and the sea, taking account of diverse perceptions, attitudes and values held by different communities and audiences, and considers how this insight can be used to support effective ocean governance. Recent projects include the UKRI funded Transformative Action Research for Resilient Coastal Communities (TRACC) project, the Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Hub, as well as contributing to SMMR project, Integrating Diverse Values into UK Marine Management, leading work on ocean literacy. Emma is the Academic Lead of the Severn Estuary Partnership and is the founder of the Marine Social Science Network, a global, interdisciplinary community of marine social science researchers and practitioners. She sits on the UK’s National Decade Committee for the UN Ocean Decade, the International Science Advisory Group for MEOPAR and the IOC-UNESCO’s Global Group of Expert on Ocean Literacy. She is a member of the Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership and sits on the Steering Group for the Wales Ocean Literacy Coalition.

Gerard McCarthy (Maynooth University): “The Atlantic on the edge: Where is the AMOC going and where has it come from?” on Wednesday morning

Dr. Gerard McCarthy is a physical oceanographer and climate scientist. His research focuses on the changing Atlantic, in particular, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and sea level. He has been instrumental in studying the AMOC, the system of ocean currents that significantly affects Europe’s climate. His findings have raised awareness of its potential weakening due to climate change, which could lead to significant impacts on Europe and globally. He is an internationally recognised researcher, being appointed co-chair of the JPI Oceans and Climate AMOC in Focus report in 2025.

Kate Hendry (British Antarctic Survey): “Do you want ice with that? Biogeochemical changes in polar coastal oceans” on Thursday morning

Kate Hendry is a chemical oceanographer and biogeochemist who was bitten early by the polar adventure bug, working in the Arctic and Antarctic since her graduate student days. Her research focuses on nutrient cycling in high-latitude environments, in particular the interfaces between land and sea, be it in the deep ocean or glaciated coasts. Kate’s favourite element is silicon, but she also tries to talk about other things every now and then. She has a long history of supporting the Challenger Society, including co-founding the Equality, Diversity, Inclusivity and Accessibility working group, and – currently – sitting on Council as Honorary Secretary. She is also very enthusiastic about communicating science to everyone who needs to hear about it, from parliamentary briefing notes, podcasts and radio broadcasts through to writing a children’s book.

Jack Darbyshire Memorial Lecture

8th September 7pm, PONTIO PL5 

Professor Iestyn Woolway, School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University

We are delighted to have a leading climate scientist to give the first Jack Darbyshire Memorial Lecture, Iestyn Woolway. Iestyn specialises on climate change impact assessments, with much of his time is dedicated to the study of global environmental change. His work provides insights into how climate change will impact the environment providing roadmaps to resource managers tasked with accounting for ecosystem climate vulnerability in conservation and management decision-making.

Like Jack, Iestyn also hales from the Ffestiniog Slate mining communities, studying at Bangor University as an undergraduate. Although still in the early stages of his career Iestyn has been widely recognised for the outstanding global impact of his work through the award of numerous honours including the 2025 ASLO Yentsch-Schindler Award, the 2024 Philip Leverhulme Prize, the Royal Geographical Society Gill Memorial Award, and the 2023 Dillwyn Medal of the Learned Society of Wales.

Jack Darbyshire was the first Professor of Physical Oceanography founding the Department of Physical Oceanography in 1963. Originally from the slate mining communities of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Jack graduated from Bangor (then the University Collage of North Wales) with a first-class honours degree in physics in 1940. He subsequently moved to London, and the Admiralty Research Laboratory, where he became a key member of Group-W, tasked with predicting ocean waves in support of WW2 amphibious landings.

His arrival back in Bangor in 1963 proved pivotal in the development of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University, and of oceanography globally. To this day the University maintained a strong track record of world leading oceanographic research, with many Bangor alumni occupying leading positions in both academia and commercial oceanography globally.

Download Directory of Poster Presentations here.

Download Directory of Oral Presentations here.

On the Monday and Friday of conference week we also have a GOOS meeting, and SIG meetings including Deep Sea, Shelf Sea, AMBIO, Ocean modelling. 

We still have a few places left on two Wednesday afternoon excursions, to Cwm Idwal, and to GeoMon (£12 ticket price including transport for each). We also have a free Welsh lesson on Wednesday afternoon for those not planning on going on an excursion.  

There are also a few tickets left for the reception, dinner and awards ceremony on the Thursday evening.

To purchase tickets for any of these events please contact: conference@bangor.ac.uk

Poster and Presentation Tips

We kindly direct you to the latest August edition of the Challenger Wave on page 17 for helpful tips on creating posters and presentations.

Map Showing Conference Locations

A map shows the locations of the accommodation relative to the University, plus the main arts building where the main conference takes place. For the conference it is best to enter the main arts building from College Road.

The insert shows a map of Menai Bridge, about 2 miles away, with the Ocean Sciences site indicated. SIGs and pre-booked project meetings will take place here.