11.10.2018 | The Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), under the lead of its scientific director, Prof. Dr. Hildegard Westphal, has successfully applied to host the renowned International Project Office (IPO) consortium of Future Earth Coasts (FEC). For the past four years, the office has been managed at MaREI, Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy at University College Cork, Ireland.

Starting in January 2019, ZMT will be the leading partner in the distributed secretariat of FEC for an initial period of three years. In cooperation with regional partners on all continents, the IPO will substantially contribute to the building of an international science space with a particular focus on coastal challenges. 

The consortium comprises the following institutions:

  • Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
  • State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research (SKLEC) & Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological - Remediation (KLCEPER)
  • Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, China
  • Southern Cross University, Australia
  • University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science Integration and Application Network (UMCES IAN), USA
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), USA

Delivered by ZMT, the FEC IPO will serve as a central hub that also seeks to facilitate trans-regional cooperation as well as the coordination and management of diverse stakeholder networks around issues of concern to global oceans and coasts – including scientists, governmental, economic and civil society actors.