The sixth IMBeR ClimEco summer school was held at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia last month. It brought together 60 participants and lecturers from a range of natural, social and economic marine science disciplines, to consider Transdisciplinary approaches for sustainable oceans.

Scientists are increasingly required to demonstrate the real world tangible impacts arising from their research. Despite significant advances in scholarship dedicated to understanding and improving the relationships between science, policy and practice, much of the existing literature remains high level, theoretical, and not immediately accessible to early career researchers (ECRs) who work outside of the policy sciences. In this new paper, Megan Evans and Chris Cvitanovic draw on the literature and their own experiences working in the environmental sciences to provide an accessible resource for ECRs seeking to achieve policy impact in their chosen field. They (i) describe key concepts in public policy to provide sufficient background for the non-expert, (ii) articulate a number of practical steps and tools that can help ECRs to identify and enhance the policy relevance of their research, and (iii) highlight some of the key personality traits that ECRs can foster to operate more effectively at the interface of science, policy and practice.

The Global Ocean Summit 2018 (GOS 2018) was organised by the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Thchnology (QNLM) at Oceantec Valley, Qingdao from 3-5 July 2018, with the aim of enhancing partnerships on ocean observations and research. The Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province and the Science/American Association for the Advancement of Science co-hosted the event. GOS 2018 was attended by over 150 delegates including leaders and scientists from 118 marine-related institutions and universities, from 24 countries representing Asia, North America, Oceania, Europe and Africa, as well as delegates from five international organisations/programmes.

Making good decisions requires good data. An excellent collaborative IMBeR paper maps the way for building an integrated system of observations of life in the sea which can be harnessed to influence regional and global ocean governance. To read the paper, go to: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00211

SOCAT scientists proudly announce the release of Version 6 of the Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas.

The Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT, www.socat.info) is a synthesis activity by international marine carbon scientists (>100 contributors) with annual public releases. SOCAT version 6 has 23.4 million quality-controlled in situ surface ocean fCO₂ (fugacity of carbon dioxide) measurements from 1957 to 2017 for the global oceans and coastal seas, as well as additional calibrated sensor fCO₂ measurements.

We are delighted to introduce, John Claydon, IMBeR’s new Executive Officer!

John has a background as a marine ecologist focusing on tropical marine systems, and has worked in a range of roles that includes research, teaching, management, policy, and governance. His most recent position was Director of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources for the Turks and Caicos Islands Government.

Originally from the UK, after studying at St Andrews University in Scotland, John moved to Australia for postgraduate studies and finished up with a PhD from James Cook University focused on spawning aggregations of coral reef fishes. During much of this time he lived in Papua New Guinea collecting data and helping deliver environmental education programs to local school children.