G7 Future of Seas and Ocean Initiative

The Coordination Centre

The G7 Future of the Seas and Ocean Coordination Centre is a distributed coordination group charged with the scientific and technical implementation of the initiative under the guidance of the G7 FSOI National Focal Points and Working Group. The Coordination Centre was established in 2020 by the UK and joined in 2021 by the European Union (EU). The EU, which does not host a G7 presidency and thus does not serve the G7 FSOI as Chair or Co-Chair, has agreed to provide via the EU4OceanObs the majority of the central coordination services for the Working Group. Other G7 members contribute to the Coordination Centre on an ad hoc basis by providing leadership on the coordination and implementation of topics and their intersessional activities.

EU G7 FSOI
coordination support
Mercator Ocean International
Toulouse, France

Dr. Maria Hood serves as the Head of the EU Coordination of the G7 FSOI Coordination Centre and is the head of the G7 FSOI coordination action for the EU4OceanObs Project. Hosted by Mercator Ocean International, EU4OceanObs works to strengthen international ocean governance to enhance the collection, sharing and use of ocean data in response to environmental and societal challenges. Maria has a Ph.D. in Marine Geochemistry and more than 15 years of experience coordinating international ocean science and observing system programmes for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organisation, including the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project, the IOC’s ocean acidification activities, and the GCOS-GOOS-WCRP Ocean Observations Panel for Physics and Climate. Maria holds American and French citizenship.

The UK G7 FSOI coordination support
National Oceanography Centre
Southampton, UK

Dr. Katherine (Katy) Hill serves as the Lead Scientist, UK Global Ocean Observing and UK Coordination lead for the G7 FSOI. As Lead Scientist for Ocean Research Infrastructure at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), leads the coordination and strategic planning of major ocean observing and ocean research infrastructure activities. Internationally, Katy serves Vice-Chair of the WMO Advisory Group on Ocean, and a member of the UN Ocean Decade Data Coordination Group. She has spent much of her career dedicated to the development and implementation of sustained observing systems with over 15 years working at national, regional, international levels. Prior to this role, Katy worked for the Global Climate Observing System and the Global Ocean Observing System based at the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, establishing projects such as the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS 2020) project. Katy previously worked for Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System in its formative years and oversaw the science planning and scientific delivery of the observing system. Prior to this, she worked for the International CLIVAR Project Office in the UK. Katy studied in in the UK, Canada and Australia, culminating in a Ph.D. in Quantitative Marine Sciences. Katy holds UK and Australian citizenship.

The UK G7 FSOI coordination support
National Oceanography Centre
Southampton, UK

Dr. Ryan Driscoll serves on the UK Coordination team for the G7 FSOI as part of his role as a Science Coordinator at the National Oceanography centre (NOC). Prior to this role, Ryan was based at the Alfred Wegener Institute where he worked as a Science Advisor on the German delegation to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Ryan has a Ph.D. in Ocean Sciences and a M.Sc. in Ecology with over 20 years of experience in international fisheries and ecosystem surveys. His work has combined field observations, survey data and models to understand how environmental changes affect zooplankton populations. Ryan holds American and Irish citizenship.