Curriculum Vitae Erik van Sebille

[email protected] | Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, Netherlands.

Dr Erik van Sebille

Associate Professor in Oceanography and Climate Change at the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Department of Physics, Utrecht University in The Netherlands

Main research interests

The pathways and time scales on which ocean currents carry water, heat, nutrients, plankton and plastic around the ocean, and the impact of climate change on these pathways.

Research

2017 - present: Associate Professor at the at the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Department of Physics, Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Working on pathways and connections between ocean basins using Lagrangian trajectories, and their impact on climate.

2015 - 2017: Lecturer and faculty staff member at the at the Grantham Institute and the Department of Physics at Imperial College London.

2012 - present: Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Australia.

2015 - present: Adjunct Lecturer at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

2011 - 2015: Faculty staff member at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (first five moths as a post-doc).

2009 - 2011: Postdoctoral associate at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, within the RAPID/MOCHA group, with Prof Bill Johns and Dr Lisa Beal.

2005 - 2009: PhD student in the Physical Oceanography group at IMAU, supervised by Prof Peter Jan van Leeuwen and Prof Will de Ruijter. Resulted in a dissertation entitled Assessing Agulhas leakage, of which all six research chapters are published in peer-reviewed journals.

Published 84 peer reviewed articles, 21 of which as first author and with 325 different co-authors.

More than thirty presentations at international conferences and workshops. Seven as keynote or invited speaker; one won the best student oral presentation award.

More than sixty seminar and colloquium presentations at institutes in the USA, Australia and many European countries.

Grants, Awards, Fellowships and Honours

Recipient of a 2016 European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC StG) on "Tracking Of Plastic In Our Seas" (TOPIOS). Five years of funding, valued at €1.5M.

Recipient of a 2013 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) by the Australian Research Council on "Inter-ocean exchange around Australia and its relation to regional and global climate". Three years of individual funding for independent research.

Winner of the 2016 Outstanding Young Scientist Award by the European Geosciences Union Ocean Divison.

Member of the Utrecht Young Academy

Chief Investigator on the Linkage Project "Understanding the effect of small-scale ocean process on tuna populations - a new tool to forecast tuna distributions for use in fisheries management", funded by the Australian Research Council at AU$220k for 2014-2016.

Chief Investigator on the EPSRC Institutional Sponsorship Award "Extracting Lagrangian information from numerical ocean models in the petascale age" at £42k for 2015-2016.

Co-Investigator on a NWO Grant "Dynamics and climatic imprint of the early Antarctic Circumpolar Current", led by Anna von der Heydt.

Partner Investigator on an Australian Research Council Discovery Project "New mathematics to quantify fluctuations and extremes in dynamical systems", led by Gary Froyland and Cecilia Gonzalez Tokman.

Co-Investigator on a Fundacion BBVA Grant "Reconstrucción histórica y tendencias futuras de la contaminación por plástico en el océano global", led by Andrés Cózar.

Winner of the inaugural Imperial College "2016 President's Achievement Award for Excellence in Societal Engagement", for our work on plastic pollution in the ocean.

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, through completion of the PGCert in University Learning and Teaching.

Recipient of a 2013 Climate Fellowship for science communication in the media, established by the Australian Climate Commission.

Awardee of a Bert Bolin Centre Visiting Fellowship from the University of Stockholm.

Winner of the inaugural Best Early Career Paper Award by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science for my paper on the Origin, dynamics and evolution of ocean garbage patches from observed surface drifters.

Winner of the Best Student Oral Presentation Award at the 2009 International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography.

Committee membership

[Jan 2018 - Now] Member of the Mission Advisory Group for the new SKIM satellite mission by the European Space Agency (ESA).

[Sep 2017 - Now] Vice-chair of the SCOR Working group on Floating Litter and its Oceanic TranSport Analysis and Modelling (FLOTSAM).

[Apr 2016 - Now] Taught Programme External Examiner for University College London (UCL) on the Physical Geography MSc Degree in Environmental Modelling.

[Mar 2015 - Mar 2017] Member of the UK Future Earth Committee, on behalf of the Royal Society.

[Mar 2015 - Feb 2017] Member of the UNESCO/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) working group on marine pollution.

Teaching

Lecturer and convenor of Introduction to Physical Oceanography (2017 - now; MSc level, Utrecht University).

Lecturer of Fluid Mechanics (2017 - now; BSc level, Utrecht University).

Coordinator of the Honours programme at Department of Physics (2017 - now; BSc level, Utrecht University).

Convenor and Lecturer of BS1901 - The Science of Climate Change (2016, 2017; MSc level, Imperial College London).

Co-convenor and Lecturer of Computational Physics (2016; BSc level, Imperial College London).

Co-convenor and Lecturer of MSCI3001 - Physical Oceanography (2012, 2013 and 2014; MSc level, University of New South Wales).

Tutor in CLIM1001 - Introduction to Climate Change (2012; BSc level, University of New South Wales).

Guest lecturer in CLIM3001 - Climate System Science (2012, 2013 and 2014; BSc level, University of New South Wales).

Guest lecturer in MSCI6681 - Topics in Australian Marine Sciences, organised by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (2013 and 2014; MSc level, University of New South Wales).

Guest lecturer on Climate Science within the course Macroeconomics and Sustainability at the Australian Campus of University College London (2014; MSc level, University College London).

Lecturer at the 2012 Winter School of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science (2012, 2013 and 2014; PhD level).

Lecturer at the NERC Advanced Training short course on Oceans and Weather in Climate (2015; PhD level).

Teaching Assistant for an undergraduate class in Numerical Physics using Mathematica, Fortran, and C (2006 - 2008; BSc level, Utrecht University).

Guest lectures on the role of the ocean in climate for high school students and freshman undergrads (2006 - now).

Current students and postdocs

David Wichmann (PhD, main supervisor, Utrecht University, October 2017 - now).

Peter Nooteboom (PhD, co-supervisor, Utrecht University, September 2017 - now).

Cleo Jongedijk (PhD, co-supervisor, Imperial College London, November 2017 - now).

Alex Christensen (PhD, co-supervisor, Imperial College London, October 2017 - now).

Ronan McAdam (PhD, joint supervisor, Imperial College London, October 2015 - now).

Philippe Delandmeter (postdoc, main supervisor, Utrecht University, September 2017 - now).

Victor Onink (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Utrecht University, November 2017 - now)

Jeroen van Rijn (BSc thesis, main supervisor, Utrecht University, September 2017 - now)

Raymond Edwards (BSc thesis, main supervisor, Utrecht University, February 2018 - now)

Past students and postdocs

Christopher Bull (PhD, joint supervisor, University of New South Wales, June 2013 - July 2017).

Shirley Qin (PhD, joint supervisor, University of New South Wales, JJuly 2012 - December 2015).

Jesús Peña Izquierdo (PhD, exchange project host, Institut Ciencies del Mar Barcelona visiting University of New South Wales, August 2012 - March 2013).

Joe Scutt Phillips (postdoc, co-supervisor, University of New South Wales, February 2016 - February 2018).

Michael Lange (postdoc, main supervisor, Imperial College London, September 2015 - August 2016).

Paulina Cetina Heredia (postdoc, main supervisor, University of New South Wales, March 2015 - December 2015).

Lynn Kruithof (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Utrecht University, September 2017 - January 2018)

Samuel Wetherell (MSc thesis, co-supervisor, Imperial College London, January 2017 - August 2017).

Birgit Sutzl (MSc thesis, joint supervisor, Imperial College London, October 2016 - August 2017).

Pascal Dubois (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Imperial College London, June 2016 - September 2016).

Tim Rhys-Hedgeland (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Imperial College London, June 2016 - September 2016).

Charles Axelsson (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Imperial College London, June 2016 - September 2016).

Adam Mohmed (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Imperial College London, October 2015 - June 2016).

Omar Jahangir (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Imperial College London, October 2015 - June 2016).

Joel Kronborg (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Lund University visiting Imperial College London, February 2016 - July 2016)

Steffie Ypma (MSc thesis, main supervisor, Utrecht University visiting University of New South Wales, August 2014 - April 2015)

Simon Brouwer (BSc thesis, main supervisor, Utrecht University, September 2017 - January 2018)

Keith Huang (BSc thesis, co-supervisor, University of New South Wales, July 2014 - June 2015).

Nicholas Calhau (BSc thesis, main supervisor, University of New South Wales, February 2014 - November 2014).

Thomas Stokes (BSc summer project, main supervisor, Imperial College London, July 2016 - September 2016).

Peter Sherman (BSc summer project, main supervisor, Imperial College London, July 2015 - September 2015).

Media appearances

More than 250 interviews on topics including marine plastic litter and on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. These include CNN (16 times), BBC (8 times), New York Times (4 times), Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Science Magazine, Discovery Channel, AP, Reuters, AFP, Sydney Morning Herald, all the Australian television networks (ABC, SBS, Channel 7, Channel 9, Channel 10), as well as Dutch media.

Featured in an episode of the documentary series Tipping Points, produced by Unboxed Media. Went on expedition to the tiny Pacific Island Nation of Tuvalu, to document the effects of sea level rise on this atoll nation. Series was internationally aired in second half of 2013.

Interviews on marine plastics and my website adrift.org.au for numerous outlets, including Australian ABC Newsline in September 2013 and the BBC website in July 2014.

Worked with the Australian Climate Council on a YouTube video explaining the results of the 2013/2014 IPCC AR5 reports.

Opinion pieces for The Conversation, an Australian news outlet, on garbage patches and plastic pollution, on working in Antarctica, how ocean currents helped a castaway drift from Mexico to the Marshall Islands and how Indigenous artists use ghost nets to raise awareness of how detrimental these nets are to marine life.

In-studio interview with UNSWtv, edited into a three-minute talking head video, in January 2013. The video has been viewed more than 13,000 times in the first three months that it has been up on YouTube.

Scientific cruises

Three weeks on the Aurora Australis to resupply the Antarctic Research Station Casey (January 2014).

Four weeks on the Akademik Shokalskyi on the 2013 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (December 2013).

Three weeks on the R/V Knorr to service a mooring array east of the Bahamas (April 2011).

Four weeks on the R/V Oceanus to service a mooring array east of the Bahamas (April 2010).

Two weeks on the F/S Meteor to service a mooring array in the Mozambique Channel (January 2008).

Two weeks on the R/V Pelagia to study internal waves in the Bay of Biscay (April 2005).

Four weeks on the R/V Pelagia to study internal waves in the Canary Basin (October 2004).

Education and Summerschools

2005: Masters degree in Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht University with a minor in Algorithm design. Graduated with a thesis entitled Fast response of the meridional overturning circulation to Agulhas leakage Perturbations, supervised by prof. dr. Peter Jan van Leeuwen.

Attended the CKO Summerschool 2007.

Wrote a literature study on the use of Neural Networks in Physical Oceanography.

Other relevant

Member of the UNESCO/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) working group on marine pollution.

Initiator, developer and project manager of www.adrift.org.au, a website where the public can engage with the marine plastics problem.

Initiator, developer and project manager of www.plastinography.org, a website where all information on marine plastics is collated - specifically aimed for classrooms.

Member of the Scientific Committee of the 2015 Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) Annual Meeting.

Member of the Education and Outreach Committee of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS).

Public outreach with speaking engagements at the Royal Geographic Society in London, the Bluedot music festival in Manchester, the Being Human Festival in Southampton, the London Design Biennale in London, and the Sydney Nerd Nite and Yeah Sessions.

Initiator and organiser of the first-ever round of summer scholarships within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science.

Partnering in the Scientists in Schools program, visiting high schools in Sydney and mentoring students interested in science.

Member of the science content team for the new high-school e-learning module EΔRTH on climate change as part of the Australian Government Smart Science Initiative.

Co-organizer of the 2006 Buys Ballot Research School Spring Symposium on Gas production in the Wadden Sea.

Co-organizer of the 2004 Dutch National Students Programming Championships, co-designer of the problem set.

Second place at the 2003 Dutch National Students Programming Championships.