Dr. Jennifer Coston-Guarini is head of The Entangled Bank Laboratory and an eco-geochemist with expertise in marine ecology, geochemistry and modeling. She completed her PhD at the University of Western Brittany (Université de Bretagne Occidentale, UBO) on quantitative methods to reconstruct ecological trends. For this, she has developed methods in historical ecology to characterize limits of ecological concepts by re-examining the historical record. The project emerged from her experience, first as a heritage collections curator, and from her studies of the origins of marine field stations in Europe, the career of Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers (1821-1901), and roles of observation techniques in constructing definitions of objective knowledge. She has contributed to numerous exhibitions on the history of marine sciences and was project lead for a large science center on Mediterranean biodiversity, for which she also invented the name ("Biodiversarium"). She is an invited member of the ICES WG on Historical Ecology and has participated in international teaching initiatives through the EMBC and EMBC+ programs (now IMBRSea).
Dr. Jean-Marc Guarini is a researcher who develops models and analytical methods in quantitative ecology used to study the properties of ecological systems and their dynamics. He specializes in the formulation of mathematical models to improve our understanding of environmental challenges with complex dynamics and forcings, like for example, his integrated approach for quantifying both benthic and pelagic microalgae in coastal ecosystems. He has led many research programs, including most recently a project to explain the occurrence of alternate states in protected areas. He is currently professor at the University of Western Brittany (UBO), a member of the ICES WG in Integrated Physical Biological and Ecosystem Modelling, and has been in charge of both national and international graduate programs in marine sciences and conservation with the University of Ghent.
Dr. François Charles (CNRS) is an expert in benthic ecology and the biological diversity of aquatic and marine ecosystems. His research primarily concerns the functioning and structure of benthic communities in coastal environments. He is particularly interested by the role terrestrial organic matter plays in transitional ecosystems. By combining observation, theory and experiment he is currently studying how diversity and ecosystem functioning co-evolve in detritus-based communities, such as those that develop on driftwood and plant debris.
Dr. François Lantoine (UPMC) is an expert in phytoplankton taxonomy using pigment analysis and electron microscopy to identify populations and communities in marine systems. He specializes in spectrofluorometric methods that quantify multiple chlorophyllous pigments and their respective degradation products (phaeopigments) in a single water sample. He has originated methods to identify different pigments characteristic of Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyceae and Cryptophycea (phycobiliproteins). Currently, his primary research interest is in developing methods for the characterization and distribution of picoplankton populations. These spectrofluorometric methods in combination with flow cytometry are a powerful tool for the quantification and monitoring of phytoplanktonic diversity in aquatic environments.
Dr Tim Deprez has a background in marine taxonomy and biological data management. Since 2008 he has been largely involved in organizational aspects of higher education, and developed the EConsort software for managing educational programmes. He teaches 4 Masters courses at Ghent University and is a guest lecturer at 2 European universities. Tim is the executive coordinator of the MSc in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation EMBC/EMBC+. From 2011-2016 he coordinated the Erasmus Mundus MARES Doctoral Programme. From 2012 onwards, he was involved in major European marine training initiatives which led to the development of the European Marine Training platform.