New trustees welcomed to the Board of Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)

15 February 2023

Following the appointment of Professor Lucy Carpenter and Dr Véronique Garçon to the Board of Trustees in spring 2022, Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) has further strengthened its board level expertise with the appointment of Dr Jyotika Virmani and Dan Crockett as Trustees in early 2023.

The new appointments bring the Board membership to eleven.

About the Trustees appointed during 2022/23

• Professor Lucy Carpenter is a specialist in the air-sea exchange of chemically reactive trace gases and currently sits on the Scientific Steering Committee of the WMO/UNEP Stratospheric Ozone Assessment panel and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz and the NSF Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE).
• Dr Véronique Garcon is former Chair of the Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) programme (in which many PML scientists were involved) and is currently on the Scientific Advisory Board of GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany and of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. She is also a co-chair of IOCCP (International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project) and of the Global Ocean Observing System Biogeochemistry panel and a member of the IOC UNESCO Working group GO2NE (Global Ocean Oxygen Network).
• Dr Jyotika Virmani has a background in physical oceanography and ocean technology and is the Executive Director for the Schmidt Ocean Institute. She also serves on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Advisory Board, the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration, the US Integrated Ocean Observing System Federal Advisory Committee, and is currently co-Chair of the UN Ocean Decade Technology & Innovation Working Group 
• Dan Crockett is Director of Ocean and Climate at the Blue Marine Foundation, an international NGO committed to sustainable marine conservation. With over fifteen years of business experience, Dan supports Blue Marine project development and overall organisational growth while also directing projects focused on the high seas and national marine parks.

Janice Timberlake, Chair of the PML Board, said: “I am delighted to welcome the new Trustees to PML and am very confident their expertise and insight will prove invaluable, particularly given the acute challenges facing the research community at present. PML continues to build its strong legacy as a world-leading marine institute and I look forward to working with our Trustees and the wider leadership team as we forge ahead.”

Professor Icarus Allen, Chief Executive of PML said: “These are really exciting appointments for PML. Our new Trustees bring a wealth of talent and experience from across a diverse range of areas - from atmospheric science and oceanography to advanced technology, habitat restoration, marine management and policy. I’m very pleased to be working alongside them as we shape PML’s future plans.”  

 

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“I’m incredibly interested in the research PML undertakes and the impact it has made in marine biochemistry. The Ocean is so important for the atmosphere and I hope to support PML through my atmospheric science background and research strategy experience. I fully support PML’s drive for impactful science – addressing challenges and making a difference in the world is what inspires me.”
Professor Lucy Carpenter
 
“I first became aware of PML when I was part of the Scientific Advisory Committee and was impressed with the organisation’s culture and collaborative nature. It is an exemplary organisation which strives for excellence and has a caring, sharing nature which is very important within scientific research. I’m very excited to be a part of it.”
Dr Véronique Garçon
 
“PML has a wonderful reputation and I’m looking forward to helping it evolve its strategic direction, especially internationally. I’m particularly interested in the opportunities ahead for sophisticated technology to advance our knowledge of the ocean and, in support of the UN Ocean Decade, the potential for collaboration at a global scale.”
Dr Jyotika Virmani
 
“I was really drawn to PML’s entrepreneurial approach to science and impressed with the organisation’s ability to go deep on key topics such as Blue Carbon and Ocean Acidification. PML is making a real difference in terms of the knowledge and understanding that we need to convince policy-makers to properly protect and restore habitats and get the world to take these issues seriously. I see a real opportunity to support PML in raising awareness as we take the science forwards.”
Dan Crockett
 

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