Two of the Greatest Institutions of Oceanography in the World bring the bottom of the Oceans to the surface and into the Headlines.
This 7th of November 2019, the oceanographer Lisa-Ann Levin from the Scripps Institution in La Jolla California is to be awarded the Prince Albert I Grand Medal for Science in Monaco.
Lisa-Ann Levin has been known for her expertise and ongoing interest in deep sea exploration. Her research has been recognised among experts for decades but now it is also being shared with more communities such as the political, technological and economical ones as they are now all relevant when it comes to the topic of climate change. Not only do her studies reinforce that the oceans are warming up, but that they are doing so faster than previously thought.
Her studies include the areas of low oxygen in the ocean, more specifically how some areas of low oxygen in the ocean see the animal communities adapt through this period of deoxygenation by staying or leaving, but also how some actually die. With climate change, these areas of deoxygenation in the deep of the oceans are increasing and subsequently these adaptations at the bottom of the sea are increasingly visible.
While some refer to the canary in the coal mine, Lisa-Ann Levin allows for climate change to also be measured and observed by studying ecosystems at the bottom of the Oceans.
In giving this award, the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco raises the topic of deep sea exploration to the forefront of research reminding everyone that the impact of man made climate change is already visible throughout multiple ecosystems on the planet.
