The meeting was hosted by GIP / URCA and took place in an old radio station for Rio de Janeiro, now the European Institute of Design. REV Ocean received a warm Brazilian welcome and Alex spent two days hearing about the state of the oceans around Brazil, their management and research needs. The overall picture was very concerning with Brazil not having collected fisheries statistics since 2008 and little understanding of fishing or other impacts on Brazilian waters. REV Ocean looks forward to collaborating with this new venture in marine conservation.

Lively debate and spirited opinions were shared at an open public forum in Bærum municipality. The REV Ocean team was thankful to hear local perspectives on the World Ocean Headquarters building and we look forward to continued input and reactions from the community.

Our web-based opinion form is still open and available for input as well. https://www.dittinnspill.no/

Our common interest is the sea and to strengthen Norway’s role as an #ocean nation. To succeed, we must work together with relevant partners and complement each other’s important initiatives.

To reach this goal, REVOcean organised an informative meeting with key Norwegian institutions to provide an update on our current plans and to discuss cooperation with those in Norway who wish to reach our common goals of improving the health of the sea.

Nearly 40 participants from relevant institutions in research and academia came to visit REV Ocean and hear about our science plans, the technical capabilities of the Research Expedition Vessel (REV), the plans for the World Ocean headquarters, and the ocean data platform.

We will continue to reach out to Norwegian and international partners and build a community that will focus on solutions to improving the health of the oceans.

REV Ocean’s CEO Nina Jensen had a busy week meeting with partners and participating in high-level events at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Taking Action for the Ocean

Nina discussed opportunities and solutions with an esteemed panel of experts including Enric Sala, Michelle Bachelet, Marc Benioff and Al Gore. The panel was moderated by Francine Lacqua, Editor-at-Large and Presenter from Bloomberg Television.

Nina’s key takehome message for the audience:

“Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. I would recomend these three things for people to act on: use your vote … unless you vote for the political leaders we need, then nothing will change. Reduce meat consumtion, which is a big driver of climate change, and cut out all single use plastic in your daily life.”

The full event is available to view on YouTube.

30×30 vision: Scaling up solutions for Ocean protection through new technologies

Nina moderated a session that was part of the “Ocean Day” programme, convened by the Friends of Ocean Action in collaboration with Salesforce.com.

Speakers included:

• Gloria Fluxa Thienemann, Vice-Chairman and CEO, Iberostar Group
• Enric Sala, Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society
• Brett Jenks, President and CEO, Rare

In the last few years, considerable progress has been made towards achieving the goal of 10% of coastal and marine areas conserved by 2020. The latest science, however, points to the need to be more ambitious and to protect at least 30% of the Ocean if we are to build the resilience of its ecosystems and species to climate change and also help regenerate Ocean life.

The session focused on understanding the urgency of scaling up efforts and presenting concrete solutions and investment opportunities into innovations that can fast-track conservation solutions and support the realization of the 10% target and making the ambition of the 30% by 2030 (30×30) vision at hand.

REV Manager for strategy and partnership, Gry Ulverud, and CFO Martin Moen met with IOC-UNESCO Executive Secretary Vladimir Ryabinin to discuss cooperation on global ocean issues. Some of the main areas of interest include The UN Decade for Ocean Science, REV’s Ocean Data Platform, working with young researchers from developing countries, ocean literacy, and the World Ocean Headquarters. Meetings with the OECD focussed on an OECD-REV Ocean workshop on Innovation April 9-10 2019 and involvement in the Ocean Data Platform.

Hailing from the beautiful Canadian city of Montreal, Lawrence has a graduate degree in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, California. Throughout his career, Lawrence has worked at the interface of environmental science, policy, and communications, with a particular focus on the Polar regions, high mountain areas, and the global oceans.

Lawrence enjoys working in visual communications and has produced successful photography exhibits, infographics and documentaries for the Arctic Council, UNEP, ICIMOD, the University of the Arctic and other partners. As a photographer, he built up the GRID-Arendal photo library which includes hundreds of free high-resolution environmental images available for download. Before joining REV Ocean, he managed the Climate and Cryosphere Project (CliC) of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), based at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø.

Lawrence is a camera enthusiast and has an extensive collection of 4×5 film equipment, as well as underwater, drone, and hyperspectral image recording gear. Over the years, he has received more than 20 international photographic awards including the Black+White Magazine Competition Award for Nature Photography, Communication Arts Awards, and multiple nominations for the International Photography Awards (IPA).

Give a warm welcome to Annetta – REV Ocean’s new Administrative Coordinator. Arguably the most important person on our team, she will ensure that all organizational cogwheels run smoothly and help steer REV Ocean in the right direction in the years ahead!

Annetta has several years of experience as an administrative professional, mainly from the oil and gas industry but most recently at Baker Hughes, a GE company, where she worked six years as an Executive and Administrative Assistant. Prior to this she worked 16 years in SAS as a flight attendant. She has project experience as a Conference Coordinator within the electronics industry and as a junior consultant for customer relations studies within the oil and gas industry.

Being half-Italian, Annetta spends every summer in the south of Italy where her father hails from. Having seen the changes in the Adriatic sea over the years and the result of excessive plastic littering, she recently decided to join the ambitious endeavor to help save the world ocean. We’re very happy you decided to join us Annetta!

In the world of seafaring, an operational director of a vessel must know the ins and outs of all operational activities. Embedded in this job description is not only getting REV up and running, but also building an organization onboard and ashore that will be in charge of operating the vessel. Not to mention cruise planning across the globe. Fortunately, this kind of responsibility is nothing new to Øystein.

Hailing from the coastal town of Tromsø in northern Norway, Øystein became well acquainted with the ocean from an early age. His love for the marine lifestyle led him to become a naval officer, followed by two decades at Norwegian Polar Institute where he took part in expeditions and scientific cruises in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Prior to joining REV Ocean, he led the construction of Kronprins Haakon – Norway’s newest and most advanced ice-breaking polar research vessel.

In his spare time Øystein prefers sea and snow related activities, especially cross country and downhill skiing. His hometown offers plenty opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, with its geographical location allowing for picturesque sea-to-summit ventures – being able to see the ocean while traversing mountain ridges is “the perfect combination”, in Øystein’s own words. As much as he loves the Polar areas, Øystein would really like to explore the tropics, which would be a completely new experience for him.

Today is Alex’s first day on the job as REV Ocean’s Science Director, where he will lead the development of a world-leading marine research program targeting problems faced by the ocean, i.e. climate change, acidification, marine plastics and over-exploitation of marine resources.

Born in the UK and residing in Oxford, Alex has a scientific background and experience unlike most others. Previously a Professor of Conservation Biology at University of Oxford, he has spent a quarter of a century studying the deep sea and coral reefs. His scientific track record has focused mainly on marine biodiversity and its drivers, but also human impacts on the ocean and how to mitigate them. Accomplishments include participation in no fewer than thirteen scientific cruises (whereas four as Chief Scientist), diving in a submersible to more than 3,000 meters, and shaking hands with an open-minded octopus. It’s all part of the job.

When not leading pioneering hydrothermal vent expeditions or steering submersibles deep into the abyss, Alex most of all enjoys spending time with his family and observing wildlife in its natural environment. Board and role-playing games are also a favorite of his, so much so that he is currently running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign for his two eleven-year-old daughters. Other pastimes include scuba diving, reading sci-fi and fantasy novels, collecting old oceanography and natural history books, and eating cheese cake.

His dream research expedition would be for REV set sail towards the Indian Ocean to study the largely unexplored vents of the South West, Central and South East Indian Ridges, in order to understand how the biological communities on them are structured and how populations across the southern Indian Ocean are connected. These are critical data for science-driven management of sulfide mining, for which purpose these seabeds are currently being surveyed.

We welcome Alex to the team and look forward to working with him!

REV Ocean was very honored to be awarded the Fabien Cousteau Blue Award at the 29th International Superyacht Society (ISS) Awards for Design & Leadership Gala during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of the famed Jacques Cousteau, along with owners and the yachting industry have found worthy nominees and recipients of this award since its creation in 2011, of which include Captain David Tomlinson, Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation and the International SeaKeepers Society.

According to the definition, “The Fabien Cousteau Blue Award celebrates stewardship of marine ecosystems. Environmental leadership, global oceanic conservation and resource preservation are prerequisites for nomination. The integration of environmental technologies and resource management with the goal of setting achievable standards and models for wide adaptation in the design, engineering and building of large yachts—and the use of the Earth’s waterways—are essential criteria.”

REV Ocean is proud and grateful for having received this recognition of our project and extends our sincere thanks to Fabien Cousteau and the jury.

There to accept the award was REV Ocean’s CFO Martin S. Moen and Marketing Manager Tone Nymoen.

See the film here