Chasing water: The oceanography of the transport of floating material

Prof Dr Erik van Sebille

Utrecht University

Erik van Sebille is professor of oceanography and public engagement at Utrecht University, where he also received his PhD in 2009. He has worked at the University of Miami, the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and Imperial College in London. Erik investigates how ocean currents move 'stuff' around. He has won the Outstanding Young Scientist Award from EGU’s Ocean Science division, and AGU Macelwane Medal and the Georg Wüst prize. He is the lead developer of the open-source OceanParcels.org code for Lagrangian Ocean Analysis. He is co-author of the textbook 'Ocean Currents - Physical Drivers in a Changing World' with Professor Robert Marsh. He led the European Research Council Starting Grant project 'Tracking Of Plastics in Our Seas' and is now leading the project 'Tracing Marine Macroplastics by Unraveling the Ocean’s Multiscale Transport Processes'. In parallel to his ongoing work in physical oceanography, he leads a research team on how scientists can be effective and inclusive in their communication and engagement with society, specifically on the climate crisis