National Ocean Science Conference

Upon arrival, please stop by the registration desk to pick up your badge. Coffee and tea will be available throughout the day, and we kindly ask you to return your keycord before leaving.

Welcome by moderator Sjoerd Groeskamp and NIOZ director Han Dolman. 

‘Seeing the sea: our changing attitudes to the physical nature of the ocean‘ by Helen Czerski (University College London).

Even for ocean scientists, it’s easy to take the physicality of the ocean for granted: of course, it’s large and wet and generally inhospitable for humans. But we are citizens of an ocean planet, and the way we see the ocean is an extension of the way we see ourselves. The biggest story on Earth is that of our ocean – the water itself – and the foundation for that story is the latest ocean science. What can stories from the past teach us about how to talk about the ocean in the future? 

Screening of the documentary ‘The Trap, portrait of time’ by Threes Anna. Portrait of an old fisherman who needs to pass on his craftsmanship. But letting go and passing on his passion proves difficult.

‘Fifty years of fisheries and marine research: a personal account‘ by Daniel Pauly (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia).

The presentation, based on the various events which shaped my life as a scientist, also tracks major trends in marine and freshwater fisheries and marine, or better ‘aquatic’ biology. It starts in in Kiel, Germany, in 1969, where I studied fisheries sciences, zoology and physical oceanography, extends to Ghana, West Africa, then Indonesia, the Philippines and then to all the continents where I taught the methods and concepts, and the use of the global databases that I had gradually developed to meet the various challenges that I had encountered. Some of these methods, concepts and databases will be briefly presented to illustrate how science can help meet, or at least understand, the challenges posed by the largely uncontrolled growth of the fishing industry, and the impact of global warming on marine and freshwater biodiversity.   

The parallel sessions aim to bring together experts and stakeholders for focused discussions on key topics, fostering collaboration and actionable insights to drive meaningful change.

Session 1 – Maximizing the Impact of Marine Science Communication

Get ready to sharpen your message, expand your reach, and make your science matter. 

In a world saturated with media, impactful science communication is essential. Strong media skills don’t just improve how researchers connect with peers; they shape whether scientific insights reach policymakers, businesses, and society at large. In this dynamic breakout session, leading experts Erik van Sebille, Helen Czerski, and ECOP Netherlands will guide you through diverse communication strategies across disciplines. The session kicks off with an interactive panel discussion consisting of a broad variety of professionals, followed by hands-on group work where you’ll put new ideas into practice. 

This session is hosted by Erik van Sebille (Oceanographer at Utrecht University) and  Helen Czerski, ECOP (Early Career Ocean Professional Programme Netherlands). With Laura Bergshoef (NRC), Frank Reef (Jouw Noordzee) and Kim Sauter (NIOZ).

Session 2 – Future sea levels & nature-based approaches: From science to society 

Join us in shaping a resilient coast for the future.

As sea levels continue to rise, coastal societies face urgent choices about how to adapt. Traditional engineering alone may no longer be sufficient to meet the scale and complexity of the challenge. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognized as a promising pathway: not only for coastal protection, but also for ecosystem restoration, biodiversity enhancement, and the creation of long-term societal value.

In this interactive session, researchers and practitioners will explore prospects how science can contribute to realistic, scalable, and socially supported responses to sea-level rise. The session combines short keynote contributions from leading experts with an interactive panel discussion involving both speakers and audience. By bringing together perspectives from coastal science, engineering, ecology, governance, and spatial planning, the session aims to stimulate dialogue on the opportunities, limitations, and societal implications of nature-based adaptation strategies.

This session is hosted by Jim van Belzen (NIOZ & WMR) and Bregje van Wesenbeeck (Deltares & TU Delft, NL2120). With Vincent Vuik or Bas Kolen (HKV), Joost Schrander (HHNK), Lot Locher (One Architecture) and Susan Stuebing (Origame).

Session 3 – The value of long-term marine monitoring for science, policy and conservation  

Discuss with us how to monitor for a better world.

Long-term monitoring data are essential for revealing and understanding environmental change. As humans, we quickly adapt to a changing environment which then becomes the new normal. By revealing trends beyond natural variability, time-series help detect emerging threats and ecosystem shifts. In this session, we will highlight the importance of sustained monitoring efforts and how they inform society, guide conservation action and inform the necessary policy change for a healthy marine ecosystem. 

The session will feature a series of short keynote contributions from science and policy, offering different perspectives on the value of long-term marine monitoring, showing that science can be used to make this world a better place. 

This session is hosted by Femke de Jong (Physical oceanographer at NIOZ) and Allert Bijleveld (Behavioural ecologist at NIOZ). With Robert-Jan Wille (Utrecht University), Anieke van Leeuwen (NIOZ), Sander Holthuizen (Rijkswaterstaat) and Sjoerd Groeskamp (NIOZ).

• Robert-Jan Wille (Utrecht University): History of science and long-term monitoring projects since the nineteenth century. “Understanding and monitoring a changing ocean, atmosphere or earth system depends on long-term data sets. In my talk I will make a connection between the data sets in different sciences, from marine biology to meteorology and other climate sciences, and talk about their distinct histories.” Robert-Jan will connect these stories to the history of NIOZ itself, and especially its establishment in 1876 as the Zoological Station in Den Helder.
• Sander Holthuijsen (Rijkswaterstaat): No management without monitoring. Long-term monitoring data are essential for revealing and understanding environmental change. Rijkswaterstaat contributes to the systematic collection, integration and open dissemination of data from the Wadden Sea and North Sea. We need (open) data to enable scientists, managers and policymakers to jointly build knowledge and support evidence-based decisions. Programmes such as SIBES (Synoptic Intertidal Benthic Survey) demonstrate how long-term, consistent datasets provide crucial insights into ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity trends and sediment processes. These time series help distinguish natural variability from structural change, which is increasingly important in a system under such human influences. Sustaining long-term monitoring remains challenging due to fluctuating funding and shifting political priorities. Safeguarding and investing in long-term monitoring and accessible data infrastructures is therefore essential for adaptive management and policy development. Especially in an organization with sometimes conflicting goals. 
• Anieke van Leeuwen (NIOZ): Shifting baselines and shifts in community composition: 65 years of fish catches in the southern North Sea ecosystem. The shifting baselines syndrome was recognised more than thirty years ago and seems more prevalent than ever. In these times of climate crisis and biodiversity crisis, the fish community in the southern North Sea has kept on changing. Using a high-resolution time-series of a long-running historical fish-fyke program, I will show general trends and more detailed aspects of the southern North Sea fish community and ecology. Starting from the current day, I will look back on trends, changes, variation, and baselines that contributed to the current-day fish community in this area. From a species-diversity perspective, we can recognize several shifts in the community composition. Over the decades-long time period, these shifts are related to increasing water temperatures. However, these shifts do not seem to be similarly reflected in the presence and representation of trophic levels within the fish community, suggesting that there may be a relatively stable functional structure in the fish community throughout these decades.
• Femke de Jong & Sjoerd Groeskamp (NIOZ): When scientific measurements should become essential climate monitoring. Sometimes a short-term process study turns out so important, that it becomes a crucial long-term climate time series. This is the case for the measurements of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the system of ocean currents that transports heat from the subtropics to northwest Europe. Giving Europe its mild climate. Measurements of the AMOC have taught us much about its variability, trends and driving mechanisms. Here we will talk about efforts to safeguard this time series and how to move it from competitive science funding to sustained climate monitoring infrastructure.

A discussion on the geopolitical challenges the ocean and ocean governance are currently facing.

The global ocean order to this day remains premised on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of 1982. However, some key actors, like the US and China, have been contesting basic traits of the UNCLOS-based ocean. The UNCLOS regime also has to grapple with the multiple impacts on the Ocean’s ecosystem, including those caused by climate change. The recently concluded Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement could in principle support the resilience of the ocean, but also has to operate in a complex institutional setting.

Chair: Alex Oude Elferink (Utrecht University, Utrecht Centre for Water, Ocean and Sustainability Law; Director NILOS (Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea).

Guests:

• Professor dr. Liesbeth Lijnzaad is endowed professor Practice of International Law (part time). She is also judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg.
• Prof. dr. Alexander Proelss, Professor for the International Law of the Sea and International Environmental Law
• Meggie Salomonsz, Senior Policy Advisor Marine and Ocean Affairs at Dutch the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
• Matthew Gianni, Co-founder, Political and Policy Advisor of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition