South Korea

Contact details

Kwang-Sik Choi
Marine Life Science
Jeju National University
Jeju, Jeju-do, South Korea

Biographical summary

Kwang-Sik Choi is a professor of the Department of Marine Life Science, Jeju National University (JNU) in South Korea. As a shellfish biologist, Kwang-Sik has been working on various topics in molluscan biology, including the effects of environmental impacts and parasitic infections on the reproductive physiology and immune function of oysters, clams, and abalones. Kwang-Sik received his MS and Ph.D. from Dept. Oceanography, Texas A&M University (1987 and 1993), joined JNU in 1995. He is a fellow of the Korean Academy of Marine Science and an associate editor of the Ocean Science Journal and the Frontiers in Marine Science. He is also an active member of the National Shellfish Association (USA) and the Korean Society of Oceanography.

France

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Mario Lepage
Reseach Engineer
AQUA
INRAE
CESTAS, France

Biographical summary

I am pleased to be an ECSA ambassador as I work with estuaries for 30 years and I think that ECSA in probably the best community of people working on Estuaries and Coasts around the world. I do participate regularly in meetings organized by ECSA and I personally organised a local ECSA meeting in Bordeaux in 2011. I find it important to know that there is a wide community belonging to a dedicated topic like estuaries and coast in Europe and across the world. It provided me several contacts in the past and it still does nowadays and I think that sharing these experiences could help increasing the number of peoples that would like to get closer involve in the ECSA. I also think that several Master or PhD student are simply not aware that the membership is so cheap for them and that being a member could provide them cheap cost for their participation to meetings and eventual budget to help them to cover traveling fees. Having a membership at ECSA for young career researcher may also help them finding PhD and Post-Doc in future. I propose to act in that sense and to be an ECSA Ambassador for France.

Australia

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Ruth Reef
Senior Lecturer
School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
Monash University
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Ruth Reef is a senior lecturer and coastal scientist at Monash University, Melbourne.

Message from Ambassador

I want to better integrate the excellent coastal science conducted in Australia within the global community, fostering more collaborations in this space between Australia and the rest of the world.

Biographical summary

Ruth Reef is a senior lecturer and coastal scientist at Monash University. Prior to arriving in Melbourne, Ruth was a fellow at the University of Cambridge, where she was introduced to the vibrant coastal science community of the UK and Europe. Through becoming an ECSA ambassador, Ruth wishes to better integrate the excellent coastal science conducted in Australia within the global community, fostering more collaborations in this space between Australia and the rest of the world. Ruth is currently organising an ECSA focus meeting on Australia’s mangroves and saltmarshes to be held at Monash University in June 2019 to further strengthen the ties between Australia’s coastal researchers. Contact information Dr. Ruth Reef Senior Lecturer, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, 9 Rainforest Walk, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia Phone: +61 3 990(58309) E-mail: Ruth.Reef@monash.edu

Taiwan

Contact details

Hsiao-Chun Tseng
Assistant professor
Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University.
Keelung City 202,, Keelung City, Taiwan

Dr. Hsiao-Chun (Jean) Tseng

Message from Ambassador

I am an associate professor of Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology in National Taiwan Ocean University. I trained as a chemical oceanographer and hold a Ph. D degree in Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates program in Marine and Coastal Management. My research mainly focuses on aquatic greenhouse gas emissions, marine biogeochemical cycling, climate and environmental change as well as how anthropogenic activities interact with the marine and coastal environment. I serve as a convener of ECR working group during 2023-2024 at Future Earth Taipei, and am also a steering committee member of Ocean Knowledge Action Network (KAN), Future Earth since 2024. 

Biographical summary

India

Contact details

Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent
Professor
Dept. of Environmental Sciences
University of Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

ECSA Council Member Dr. Tim Jennerjahn appointing Dr. Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent of the University of Kerala in Trivandrum to be the first of ECSA’s International Ambassadors.

Message from Ambassador

It’s a privilege to be an ECSA Ambassador and promote ECSA in India. 

I think that one of the major missions of ECSA will be to promote estuarine and coastal research in tropical countries, as well as to include more members to ECSA from these countries, especially young scientists. What I really like about ECSA is that it offers a variety of grants and awards. I was an awardee of ECSA travel grant to one of ECSA’s conferences. ECSA conferences bring in multidisciplinary scientists working in various aspects of estuaries and coasts all over the globe.

Biographical summary

Dr. Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India during 1997. Her major research work was on cellulose-binding proteins of anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria. She was a senior research fellow of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, funded project during her Ph.D. work. From 1997 to 2001, she worked as a Research Associate in the same department on the beneficial microbes transported by earthworms. From 2001 till 2005, she has been working in the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kerala as Lecturer, Assistant Professor and Head, Reader and at present as Associate Professor. She is teaching M.Sc. and M.Phil. students in Environmental Sciences and is guiding Ph.D. students and post-doctoral researchers. Her area of specialization is Environmental Microbiology and specific areas include anaerobic microbial ecology, microbial biogeochemistry and microbial degradation of pesticides/ azodyes. She is the principal investigator of five major research projects funded by the University Grants Commission, Department of Environment and Climate Change and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. She has published 37 research papers in international and national journals.

Denmark

Contact details

Patrick Friend
Global Strategic Adviser/Sediment Dynamicist/Coastal Oceanographer/Biosedimentologist
Coastal and Marine Sciences
Integral Consulting Inc.
Vejle Ost, Denmark

Patrick Friend

Message from Ambassador

The coastal zone – the interface between land and sea – has always been important to me since growing up among the estuaries and beaches of southern England, and later becoming a coastal and marine scientist in Europe and now the US. Today, more than ever before, estuarine and coastal science is critical to our understanding of natural systems and their interaction with human-induced effects in the coastal zone. My academic training taught me the value of a multi-disciplinary approach; to me this is perfectly represented by ECSA and its scientific membership. Now I believe we need more: we need a ‘stronger together’ approach to make our science heard above the noise. It is for this reason that I want to raise ECSA awareness in the US, not only within existing academic, governmental and consultancy circles, but more importantly among young coastal and estuarine scientists. 

Biographical summary

Dr. Patrick Friend is an international coastal and marine scientist, with key areas of interest in coastal & marine sediments and sediment transport, bio-sedimentology, coastal resiliency, ports, harbors and estuaries. He spent 8 years as a research fellow at the University of Southampton’s National Oceanography Centre, where he was university lead on three multidisciplinary European Union projects, Bioptis, Eurodelta and US-EuroStrataform. During this time he worked as consultant on the MOSE flood protection scheme in Venice Lagoon, Italy. After ten years in the global offshore energy industry, he returned to coastal and marine science four years ago, and is now based in Houston, Texas where he is a Coastal and Marine Sciences Strategic Adviser for Integral Consulting. Dr. Friend is a reviewer for a number of international scientific journals, and has published on topics ranging from Sediment Transport Pathways in Dredged Estuaries to Bio-Sediment Interaction in the Coastal Zone, and Shallow Gas Accumulation in Modern Deltaic Systems. His paper, ‘Bio-dependent Bed Parameters as a Proxy Tool for Sediment Stability in Mixed Habitat Intertidal Areas’ won the award for most-cited publication, Continental Shelf Research, 2003-2007. His present research involves Lagoonal Ecosystem Indicators of Heavy Metals derived from Pyrotechnics, and Barrier Island Sediment Transport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico. He is an advocate for intelligent solutions that work with nature.