Information for upcoming SIBER 21 SSC Meeting

SIBER is an international program co-sponsored by IMBeR (Integrated Marine Biosphere Research) and IOGOOS (Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System) that is focused on the Indian Ocean. The overarching goal of the SIBER program is to motivate and coordinate international interest in Indian Ocean research in order to improve our understanding of the role of the Indian Ocean in global biogeochemical cycles and the interaction between these cycles and marine ecosystem dynamics. This understanding will be required in order to predict the impacts of climate change, eutrophication and harvesting on the global oceans and the Earth System and it is fundamental to policy makers in the development of management strategies for the globally important Indian Ocean.

IIOE & SIBER LINKAGES

SIBER has played a pivotal role in initiation of plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE). SIBER has also been instrumental in motivating international community to envision IIOE-2 as a 5 years expedition beginning in approximately 2015 and continuing through to 2020. Details on IIOE can be found at IIOE-2.

 Message Board

• Information for upcoming SIBER-21 Meeting 
• IIOE-2 NewsLetter Volume-9, Issue-6, June, 2025



About SIBER

SIBER is a basin-scale international programme with a concerted effort to develop an enhanced understanding of the Indian Ocean and its role in the global biogeochemical cycle. This programme is intended to provide scientific guidance and potential research focus to many countries, including Indian Ocean rim countries, interested in pursuing research activities in the Indian Ocean. The long-term goal of SIBER is to understand the role of the Indian Ocean in global biogeochemical cycles and the interaction between these cycles and marine ecosystem dynamics. The coordination and integration of Indian Ocean biogeochemical and ecosystem research through SIBER will advance our knowledge of this under-sampled basin and provide a major contribution to the understanding of how regional and global change may impact biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem function, not only in the Indian Ocean, but in the Earth System, creating a lasting legacy upon which future research can be built. The scientific findings will inform scientists in the international community and provide a focus for future research on important regional, basin-wide, and global issues. These findings will also provide policy makers with the sound scientific basis upon which to make decisions on the management of Indian Ocean ecosystems. SIBER will leverage and strengthen GOOS and IMBER by promoting coordinated international, multidisciplinary research in developed countries, and also human resources and infrastructure development in many developing Indian Ocean rim countries.



SIBER Linkages:

SIBER has been developed under the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) project, and the Indian Ocean GOOS (IOGOOS) program with support from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). SIBER coordinates with international research efforts such as the IMBER regional programs: Climate Impacts on Oceanic Top Predators (CLIOTOP), Ecosystem Studies of Sub-Arctic Seas (ESSAS) and Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED), and the International Study of Marine Biogeochemical Cycles of Trace Elements and their Isotopes (GEOTRACES). SIBER also leverages several coastal and open ocean monitoring programs in the Indian Ocean. These include the CLIVAR- and GOOS-sponsored Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) and several regional GOOS programs. To develop a broader understanding of the Indian Ocean ecosystem, SIBER coordinates its efforts with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research (SANCOR), the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems project (ASCLME) and the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem project (BOBLME). As SIBER developed, it's collaborations, the number of participants, institutes and programs involved have also increased. SIBER provides the innovation, direction and coordination required to build a critical mass of multidisciplinary science and scientists to deliver this ambitious but achievable and globally important program.

Oversights and responsibilities:

The schematic diagram given below illustrates the relationships between the SIBER International Project Office (IPO) and IMBER and IOGOOS IPOs, along with oversight and responsibilities.



SIBER Timeline:

SIBER has built a multidisciplinary network of experts that will grow throughout the program. Through the SSC and WGs, SIBER will convene regular meetings, workshops, scientific sessions and ultimately scientific conferences as per the timeline given below. The annual SSC meetings help develop aspects of the work plan for each of the six SIBER themes. Subsequent events will build on these to develop new approaches and to advance the integration process. These events will occur at regular periods as noted in the timeline. Other activities such as direct research, development of online tools, publications and model development will take place throughout the program and will feed into the workshops and meetings as appropriate.



SIBER INDIA

SIBER INDIA was initiated as major national programme by Dr. Wajih Naqvi at a workshop held at National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) Goa in April 13-14, 2009. This programme is sponsored by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India and has got strong national participation. SIBER INDIA programme has been subdivided into two major groups: Open Ocean and Esturies and Coastal Ocean. Open Ocean cluster has 6 projects and Easturies and Coastal Ocean cluster has 8 projects.



Details of the Projects are as follows:

Open Ocean Projects

S.No	Project Leader(Institute/University)	Project Title
1	Dr. S.W.A. Naqvi National Institute of Oceanography, GOA,	Long-term monitoring of oceanographic, biogeochemical and ecological processes in the North Indian Ocean through establishment of open-ocean time series stations in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
2.	Dr. N. Ramaiah National Institute of Oceanography, GOA	Elucidation of long-term changes in microbial communities in intensely denitrifying and oligotrophic environs through metagenomic analyses.
3.	Dr. Sujitha Thomas Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Mangalore	Flow of matter through trophic levels and biogeochemical cycles in marine and estuarine ecosystems
4.	Dr. R. Rengarajan Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad	Particulate organic carbon export flux from upper Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal using 234th as a tracer
5.	Prof. R. Ramesh Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.	The role of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) in nitrogen-loss from the Arabian Sea.
6.	Dr. M.K. Sharada C-MMACS, Bangalore	Modelling of marine biogeochemical cycles in the Indian Ocean



Esturies and Coastal Ocean Projects

S.No	Project Leader(Institute/University)	Project Title
1	Dr. SWA Naqvi National Institute of Oceanography Dona Paula-Goa	Dynamics of selected biogenic elements in Indian estuaries - A case study of the Mandovi - Zuari estuarine system
2	Prof. C Annapurna Department of Zoology, Andhra University, Visakhapatname	Assessing macro and meiobenthic diversity off Goa Coast with special emphasis on OMZ
3	Dr. Vishnu Murty Matta Department of Marine Sciences, Goa University	Atmospheric deposition and its influence on nutrients in coastal waters of Goa- West coast of India
4	Dr. B.R. Manjunatha Department of Marine Geology, Mangalore University	Assessing the Anthropogenic Impact on South-West Coast of India
5	Dr. A.A. Mohamed Hatha School of Marine Sciences,Cochin University of Science and Technology,Cochin	Role of Heterotrophic Bacteria and Cyanobacteria in the Nitrogen Cycle in the Cochin estuary and coastal waters with Special Reference to Nitrification, Denitrification and Nitrogen Fixing capabilities
6	Dr. V.N. Sanjeevan Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Kochi	Time-Series studies on the Biogeochemical aspects in the estuarine and coastal waters of Kochi, southwest coast of India
7	Dr. T. Balasubramanian Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamilnadu	Hydro - Biological studies of Vellar - Coleroon estuarine system
8	Dr. S. K. Mukhopadhyay Department of Marine Science,University of Calcutta	Biogeochemical dynamics of the Hooghly-Matla estuarine systems along the northeast coast of the Bay of Bengal, India.

Meetings

Data Portals

SIBER Products

S.No	Products	Download
1	Report of the 3rd Meeting of the SIBER Scientific Steering Committee, 2012
2	SIBER SSC-I Report, 2012
3	SIBER and IOP: Joint activities and science results, 2012
4	SIBER Science Plan and Implementation Strategy (SPIS) - Version January 2011
5	Report of the 2nd Meeting of the SIBER Scientific Steering Committee, 2011
6	IMBER News Letter on SIBER, 2011
7	OBC News on SIBER, 2010, 2012
8	AGU bookshelf on SIBER, EOS, 2010
9	Research Opportunities and Challenges in the Indian Ocean, Hood et al., EOS, 2008
10	SIBER News - Winter 2008, SIBER Newsletter, Vol 1, Feb 2008
11	Meeting report on SIBER in EOS, 2007
12	SIBER workshop in Goa in IMBER Update, issue#5, December 2006

Members

Name	Position	Affiliation	Expertise	Address	Images
Greg Cowie	Chair, SIBER	University of Edinburgh, UK	Benthic Biogeochemistry	John Murray Laboratories, The King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW Email: Dr.Greg.Cowie@ed.ac.uk Phone: +44 (0) 131 650 8502 FAX: +44 (0) 131 668 3184 http://www.ed.ac.uk/
Raleigh Hood	Co-Chair,SIBER	University of Maryland, Cambridge, USA	Biogeochemical modelling	Horn Point Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Sciences University of Maryland P.O. Box 775 Cambridge, MD 21613 USA Email: rhood@umces.edu Phone: 410-221-8434 Fax: 410-228-3890 http://www.umces.edu/hpl/people/rhood
Michael Roberts	Professor	Research Chair: Ocean Science and Marine Food Security Partnered by Newton Fund-British Council UK and National Research Foundation SA Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Port Elizabeth) University of Southampton + National Oceanography Centre (UK)	Physical Oceanography	Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth and George, South Africa Email: Mike.Roberts@nmmu.ac.za
Lynnath Beckley	Professor	Murdoch University, Australia	Marine management/ fish and higher trophic levels	School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, South St, Murdoch, Perth, Western Australia 6150 E-mail: L.Beckley@murdoch.edu.au Ph: (08) 9360 2488, Fax: (08) 9310 4997 http://www.environment.murdoch.edu.au/
P.N.Vinayachandran	Professor	Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) Indian Institute of Science (IISc)	Physical Oceanography	Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore - 560 012. Tel: +91-80-2293 3065 Fax: +91-80-2360 0865 India Email: vinay@caos.iisc.ernet.in pn.vinayachandran@gmail.com
Dwi Susanto	Senior Research Scientist	University of Maryland, College Park, USA and Surya University, Tangerang, Indonesia	Physical oceanography, remote sensing	R. Dwi Susanto, PhD Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA E-mail:dwisusa@umd.edu http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~dwi
Michael Landry	Professor of Oceanography	Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA	Physical-biological coupling/ Zooplankton and food web dynamics	University of California, San Diego, USA Email: mlandry@ucsd.edu
Birgit Gaye	Research Scientist	Institute for Biogeochemistry and Marine Research Bundesstrabe	Marine Biogeochemistry	Institute for Biogeochemistry and Marine Research Bundesstrabe 55 D-20146 Hamburg, GERMANY Email: birgit.gaye@zmaw.de
Makio Honda	Principal Research Scientist	Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan	Marine Biogeochemical Cycle	Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) Research Institute for Global Change(RIGC) Environmental Biogeochemical Cycle Research Program (EBCRP) 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, 237-0061, Japan Email:hondam@jamstec.go.jp TEL+81-46-867-9502
Jenny Huggett	Marine Scientist	Oceans and Coasts Research, Department of Environment Affairs, Cape Town, South Africa	Biological Oceanography	Department of Environmental Affairs: Oceans and Coasts, Chief Directorate: Oceans & Coastal Research, PO Box 52126, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town 8000, South Africa. Email: jhuggett@environment.gov.za 021-402-3174 (W)
Ocky Karna Radjasa		Kepala Organisasi Riset Kebumian dan Maritim Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)		Kepala Organisasi Riset Kebumian dan Maritim Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN), Indonesia Email:ocky001@brin.go.id
Francis Marsac		IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement) Department of Oceanography University of Cape Town	UMR 212 Exploited Marine Ecosystems	RW James Building University Avenue University of Cape Town Rondebosch, 7701, RSA Email:francis.marsac@ird.fr Ph:(0)21 650 3279 Fax (0)21 650 3979
Eric Raes	Research manager	Minderoo Foundation	Biological Oceanography	Minderoo Foundation Australia Email:eraes@minderoo.org
EMERITUS Members
Hiroshi Kitazato	Program Director, Research Program for Paleoenvironment, Institute for Research on Earth Evolution, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology,	Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), JAPAN	Biology and ecology of deep-sea meiobenthos	Research Director, Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) 2-15 Natsushimacho, Yokosuka 237-0061 JAPAN Email: kitazatoh@jamstec.go.jp http://www.environment.murdoch.edu.au/
S.Wajih A.Naqvi	Scientist 'H'/ Co-chair, SIBER	National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula-Goa, INDIA	Biogeochemistry, N-cycling	National Institute of Oceanography Dona Paula-Goa, 403 004, INDIA E-mail: naqvi@nio.org Phone: 91-0832-2450294 Fax: 91-0832-2450607 http://www.nio.org/
EX SSC Members
M.Ravichandran	Director	National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), India	Physical oceanography	National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Head Land Sada, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa India Email: ravi@incois.gov.in
Adnan Al-Azri	SIBER Member, National contact	Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Oman	Phytoplankton and DOM dynamics	Department of Marine Science and Fisheries College of Agriculture and Marine Science Sultan Qaboos University Al-Khod 123 Oman Email: adnazri@squ.edu.om Phone: (+ 968) 2414 1254 Fax: (+ 968) 2441 3418 http://web.squ.edu.om/
Shiham Adam	CLIOTOP Representative	Marine Research Centre (MRC), Maldives	Head, Fisheries assessment and management	General Director Marine Research Centre (MRC) H. White Waves Moonlight Higun Male - 20025, Maldives E-mail: msadam@mrc.gov.mv
Mitrasen Bhikajee	IOGOOS Chair and Director, Mauritius Institute of Oceanography	Mauritius Institute of Oceanography	Marine Biology	Mauritius Institute of Oceanography(MOI), France Centre,Victoria Avenue, Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius. E-mail: bhikajee@intnet.mu Tel:(230)427 4434 Fax:(230)427 4433 http://www.unesco.org/
David Vosuden	Project Director, Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem Project (ASCLME)	ASCLME, Grahamstown, South Africa	Human impacts and management	ASCLME House 18 Somerset Street Private Bag 1015 Grahamstown 6140 South Africa Email:david.vousden@asclme.org Telephone: +27 46 636 2984 Fax: +27 46 622 6621
Catherine Goyet	Professor	CEFREM, Universite de Perpignan, France	Carbon cycling, biogeochemistry	CEFREM, CNRS UMR 5110 Universite de Perpignan 52, av de Villeneuve F-66860 Perpignan France Email: cgoyet@univ-perp.fr Phone: +33 468 66 1743 Fax: +33 468 66 2096 http://cdiac.ornl.gov/
Timothy Rixen	Professsor	ZMT, Bremen, Germany	Carbon biogeochemistry	Leibniz-Zentrum fur Marine Tropenokologie Fahrenheitstr. 6 D-28359 Bremen E-Mail: tim.rixen@zmt-bremen.de Phone: +49 (421) 23800 - 55 Fax: +49 (421) 23800 - 30 http://www.zmt-bremen.de/
Xabier Irigoien	Director of the Red Sea Research Center	King Abdullah University of Science and Technology	Director of the Red Sea Research Center 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology	Director of the Red Sea Research Center 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal 23955-6900 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Email:xabier.irigoyen@kaust.edu.sa

Goals & Objectives

The Long term goal of SIBER is to understand the role of the Indian Ocean in global biogeochemical cycles and the interaction between these cycles and marine ecosystem dynamics. This understanding will be required in order to predict the impacts of climate change, eutrophication and harvesting on the global oceans and the Earth System and it is fundamental to policy makers in the development of management strategies for the Indian Ocean. To address this goal, emphasis will be given to the analysis required to predict and evaluate the impacts of physical and anthropogenic forcing on biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem dynamics in the Indian Ocean. SIBER will leverage the sampling and monitoring activities of several coastal and open-ocean observing systems that are being planned and deployed in the Indian Ocean and it will provide the basin-wide scientific coordination and communication required to predict Indian Ocean biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem dynamics in the context of climate change and other anthropogenic influences.

Publications