Philippe Bouchet

Molluscs taxonomist & Carlo Heip Award

•    Molluscs taxonomist, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
•    pbouchet@mnhn.fr
•    English/French
•    Availability (upon request)
 

Biography

Prof emeritus Philippe Bouchet has a long and fruitful marine scientific career, mostly connected to the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris (France) where he – amongst many other things – curated the Molluscs collection. Philippe his interests are with the exploration and description of biodiversity, especially marine invertebrates.

Exploring for unknown faunas has taken him to expeditions in three ocean basins, launching "Our Planet Reviewed", an initiative to boost species discovery that has become the gold standard of biodiversity surveys. His research on vertical migrations of gastropod larvae between the abyss and the surface awarded him the 2001 Marine Sciences Prize of the French Academy of Sciences.

His recent work focuses on species richness in complex tropical coastal environments, addressing issues such as rarity, spatial heterogeneity and endemism. Prompted by a concern for the attitude of scientists and museums to the biodiversity crisis, he has led a multi-disciplinary programme on modern invertebrate extinctions.

First and foremost, Philippe believes in solid taxonomical work, has authored major monographs, and has described over 700 new species of molluscs. He is active in promoting the involvement of citizen scientists in marine biodiversity exploration and discovery, in programmes to produce global authority lists and has served several years as a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

 

Ellen Pape

Deep-sea nematode ecologist

•    Ghent University/Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium
•    ellen.pape@ugent.be
•    English/Dutch
•    Availability (Brussels time): Nov 4 [15-16h; 16-17h], Nov 5 [13-14h], Nov 12 [10-11h, 11-12h]
 

Biography

Prof. Ellen Pape is a deep-sea benthic ecologist at Ghent University and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. She studies how deep-sea biodiversity varies across space and time, what drives these patterns, and how biodiversity supports ecosystem functioning. Her research also examines the effects of natural and human-induced disturbances on deep-sea ecosystems.

Ellen’s work has focused primarily on meiofauna, particularly nematodes, complemented by collaborative research on macrofauna and megafauna. Since 2014, she has investigated the ecological impacts of polymetallic nodule mining in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. She is committed to ensuring that scientific knowledge informs policy and environmental management. 

Since January 2023, Ellen has served on the International Seabed Authority’s Legal and Technical Commission, where she contributes scientific expertise to international regulatory processes. She is also interested in how engagement with stakeholders influences research priorities and policy development. Through her joint appointment with the Marine Ecology and Management team at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Marine Biology Research Group at Ghent University, she connects deep-sea ecological research with environmental management and policy.
 

Bert W. Hoeksema

Coral expert

•    Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden/University of Groningen, The Netherlands
•    bert.hoeksema@naturalis.nl
•    English/Dutch
•    Availability (Brussels time): October 27 - November 16 [15-16h], upon request
 

Biography

Prof. (emeritus) Bert W. Hoeksema is a distinguished marine biologist with a rich background in coral taxonomy and reef ecology, which has defined much of his career. He earned his MSc in Marine Biology from the University of Groningen and went on to complete his PhD at Leiden University, both in the Netherlands. His journey in the field of coral research began in 1982 during his internship at what was then the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden, now known as Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Since his teenage years, he fostered a fascination for marine life, particularly regarding the diversity of marine invertebrates.

He combined research on museum collections with fieldwork, most of which was performed in SE-Asia & the Caribbean. His research is predominantly about the species richness of corals and coral-dependent invertebrates (symbionts and predators), coral biogeography, and biofouling by corals. His taxonomic and ecological work has produced numerous scientific publications. He has served many years as associate editor or associate editor-in-chief for several international scientific journals, such as Marine Biodiversity and Diversity.

This background helped his long-standing role as an editor (since 2008) for corals and other cnidarians on the World Register of Marine Species. In recent years, he has increasingly applied his expertise to marine conservation, focusing on corals in the international aquarium trade. Throughout his career, he has mentored numerous MSc/PhD students from universities in the Netherlands and Southeast Asia, particularly at the University of Groningen, where he was an honorary professor of Tropical Marine Biodiversity.

Marymegan Daly

Expert sea anemones

•    The Ohio State University, USA
•    daly.66@osu.edu
•    English
•    Availability (Brussels time): Oct 31 [16-17h], Nov 2 [15-16h], Nov 4 [18-19h], Nov 10 [16-17h, at VLIZ], Nov 16 [14-15h]; more on request
 

Biography

Meg Daly is a Professor at The Ohio State University and an expert in sea anemone biodiversity. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the World Register of Marine Species and the president-elect of the Society for Systematic Biology. Her research seeks document biodiversity and to research its dimensions and causes, typically using a historical (evolutionary) approach to understanding how lineages change across time and space. She is especially interested in how evolutionary relationships can be understood and studied in animals with limited anatomical complexity. Meg is passionate about building opportunity and infrastructure to make science more robust, effective, and equitable. 

Tania Nara Bezerra

Nematode taxonomist

•    Ghent University, Belgium
•    tania.campinasbezerra@ugent.be
•    English/Portugese
•    Availability (Brussels time): Oct 29 [16-17h], Nov 5 [16-17h], Nov 9 [16-17h], Nov 12 [16-17h], Nov 13 [16-17h] 
 

Biography

Marine biologist and taxonomist with a PhD in Oceanography and extensive experience in marine biodiversity, benthos and meiofauna. My main expertise is in the taxonomy of free-living marine nematodes. My work combines fieldwork, laboratory research, specimen identification, biodiversity data and scientific collaboration. I have described two new genera and eight new species of free-living marine nematodes and have worked for many years on deep-sea biodiversity and environmental impact research.

Since 2016, I have also been Editor-in-Chief of Nemys, an open-access database and reference resource for marine nematode taxonomy, biodiversity and literature, hosted within WoRMS. In this role, I work with an international network of taxonomists and biodiversity specialists. I currently work at Ghent University in Marine Biology, combining teaching, field activities, specimen identification and research support.