From the EO

August 2025

As we head into the second half of 2025, it’s inspiring to see the Southern Ocean community continuing to grow in strength, collaboration, and impact.

This edition of SOOS Update! welcomes new leadership in the Executive Committee and Regional Working Group, and celebrates the launch of the very first SOOS Early Career Newsletter — a space created by ECRs, for ECRs. We also highlight new open-access research from the SOOS Symposium Special Issue, with studies advancing our understanding of sea ice, phytoplankton variability, and carbon fluxes. SOOS has also been active on the international stage, engaging at UNESCO-IOC, the UN Ocean Conference and the One Ocean Science Congress, where we continue to call for urgent strengthening of sustained Southern Ocean observations. 

Welcome to our new EXCOM Member, Sarat Chandra Tripathy!
Sarat is a biological oceanographer and senior scientist at the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), under India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences. His research focuses on Southern Ocean biogeochemistry, with particular expertise in bio-physical interactions, phytoplankton carbon uptake, and bio-optical studies, contributing valuable insights into the region’s marine ecosystems. Meet Sarat here...

SOOS Working Groups: Exciting Events Ahead!

Our SOOS Regional Working Groups have been hard at work planning an exciting lineup of virtual events and workshops this season:

ABS RWG Workshop (2–3 September 2025)
The Amundsen and Bellingshausen Sector RWG will host an online workshop with invited talks and lightning presentations. The sessions are timed to accommodate multiple time zones and will highlight recent research, future fieldwork, and collaboration opportunities.

Ross Sea RWG Meeting (Early September 2025)
The Ross Sea RWG will meet to share project updates, expedition overviews, and short presentations. New participants are welcome! Meetings rotate between Atlantic and Pacific time zones every two months.

WAPSA RWG Virtual Workshop (14–16 October 2025)
This 3-day virtual workshop will explore the physical drivers of ocean circulation and along-shore exchange in the West Antarctic Peninsula & Scotia Arc, and their impacts on biogeochemical processes. The program includes invited talks, short contributed presentations, and discussions.

Upcoming SOFLUX Webinars (18 September 2025)
The Southern Ocean Fluxes (SOFLUX) CWG webinar series continues with Johan Edholm presenting about sensible heat flux variability. 

SO-OA Hub Webinar at OA Week 2025 (13–17 October 2025)
As part of OA Week 2025, the Southern Ocean–Ocean Acidification Hub will host a webinar exploring Southern Ocean carbon patterns over time. Invited speakers will be announced soon.

These events provide great opportunities for collaboration, discussion, and knowledge sharing—everyone is welcome to join!

New Leadership Roles Filled in the Southern Ocean Indian Sector (SOIS) Regional Working Group (RWG)

The SOIS RWG has been busy welcoming new members. Dr Kohei Mizobata from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology joins as the new Co-chair, bringing expertise in ocean–ice interactions and leading the HEAT-CROSS project on the role of ocean heat in Antarctic ice shelf melt. The group also welcomes Dr Riesna R. Audh from the University of Cape Town as the new APECS Early Career Representative. A polar oceanographer and sea ice specialist, Dr Audh has extensive field experience and coordinates South Africa’s Polar Lab Facility, supporting collaboration, inclusivity, and the next generation of polar researchers.

Recent Updates from SOOS Working Groups

Meanwhile, the Swedish Southern Ocean Network published their latest newsletter in July, covering key updates including a funding call for Sweden’s new polar priority, a save-the-date for the 2025 Forum for the Arctic & Antarctic, leadership opportunities, Swedish activities in the Southern Ocean, and the launch of a new Swedish Centre for Arctic and Antarctic research.

Together, these newsletters provide a snapshot of the vibrant research, collaboration, and community engagement happening across the Southern Ocean.

Policy Brief About Current State & Future Challenges of Ocean Acidification in the Southern Ocean

A publication the SCAR Environments Portal by SO-OA Hub Co-chair Katherina Petrou, together with SOOS EO, Alyce Hancock, and colleagues, highlight that the Southern Ocean is acidifying faster than any other ocean basin, with major implications for ecosystems, carbon cycling, and conservation. The article reviews observed and projected trends, biological impacts, model uncertainties, and key observational gaps—emphasizing the urgent need for expanded year-round monitoring and ecosystem-scale understanding. Read the full policy brief here...

State of the Southern in Ocean in 2024
SOOS WSDML leadership team member Sandy Thomalla, together with colleagues across the SOOS community, co-authored the Southern Ocean chapter of the 2024 BAMS State of the Climate report. The chapter documents record ocean heat, widespread warming, salinity shifts, and biogeochemical changes, underscoring the Southern Ocean’s pivotal role in regulating global climate and its rapidly evolving atmosphere–ocean dynamics.

Citizen Science in Action: FjordPhyto
The SOOS-endorsed FjordPhyto program turns Antarctic travelers into contributors to real science. Working alongside researchers, expedition passengers collect samples that reveal how a changing climate affects phytoplankton—the foundation of the polar food web. Since launching in 2016, the project has built a unique long-term record that connects tourism, science, and ecosystem change on the Antarctic Peninsula. Get to know FjordPhyto here...

Uncovering the Ross Sea’s Hidden Flows
The SOOS-endorsed Glomar Challenger Trough Exchange Experiment is providing the first comprehensive measurements of how water moves across the Ross Sea shelf break. In February 2025, an international team deployed moorings from the Italian research vessel Laura Bassi, completing coverage of all three major troughs. These observations will reveal how ocean currents vary with the seasons, how they interact with sea ice, and how they shape water transport in this pivotal region. Get to know the Glomar Exchange Experiment here...

SOOS Acknowledged Papers: New Insights from the Southern Ocean
Three new SOOS-acknowledged studies shed light on critical gaps and opportunities in understanding the Southern Ocean and Antarctic ecosystems. Moura et al. explore how different datasets and high-resolution climate models represent air–sea heat fluxes, revealing major discrepancies across products but showing that finer-scale models better capture variability and trends, underscoring the need for improved modelling and sustained observations. Lucà et al. use the Ross Sea as a case study to highlight the importance of international collaboration, FAIR data, and long-term support, with recommendations that call for building stronger “networks of networks” to advance climate and biodiversity research. Meanwhile, Jones et al. review long-term ecological monitoring and uncover strong geographic and taxonomic biases, especially in East Antarctica, emphasizing the need for harmonized methods, broader coverage, and coordinated sentinel sites. Together, these studies highlight the central role of collaboration, robust data, and comprehensive monitoring in advancing Southern Ocean science and understanding climate change impacts.

Looking ahead, there are many opportunities to connect, from upcoming workshops and webinars to OSM 2026 in Glasgow and Polar Data Forum VI in Hobart. Wherever you are based, we hope you’ll find ways to participate, contribute, and help drive forward our shared mission.