Ross Sea RWG Welcomes New Leadership Team Members

The Ross Sea Regional Working Group (RWG) is delighted to welcome four new members to its Leadership Team: Pasquale Castagno, Chengyan Liu, Xinliang Wang, and Angela Garzia. Bringing expertise that spans physical oceanography, ocean–ice interactions, fisheries science, and long-term observing, they strengthen the RWG's capacity to foster international collaboration and advance coordinated research and observations across the Ross Sea.

Pasquale Castagno is an observational physical oceanographer and Associate Professor at the University of Messina (Italy), specialising in the Southern Ocean and the Ross Sea. His research focuses on the physical processes controlling dense shelf waters, Antarctic Bottom Water formation, and exchanges between the Ross Sea continental shelf and the open ocean, using long-term ocean observations. He has participated in 14 Antarctic research expeditions and has extensive experience with long-term ocean observing in the Ross Sea.

Alongside his research, Pasquale is actively involved in coordinating long-term observing activities through the Italian Ross Sea Marine Observatory (MORSea), the long-term ocean observing programme of the Italian National Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA). He also contributes to several international initiatives supporting Southern Ocean observations, including Antarctica InSync and the Ross Sea Research Coordination Network.

He is looking forward to contributing to the Ross Sea RWG Leadership Team and supporting stronger international collaboration in long-term observations of the Ross Sea.

Chengyan Liu is an Associate Research Fellow in Physical Oceanography at the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), China. His research focuses on the dynamics of the Antarctic Slope Current and cross‑slope exchange processes, including the onshore intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water and the offshore overflow of dense Shelf Water, with a particular interest in ocean‑ice shelf interactions.

He has extensive experience in high‑resolution numerical modelling and in‑situ hydrographic observations, and recently served as the lead designer for the mooring array and site selection for the Xuelong II deployment in the Ross Sea.

He is committed to open data, international collaboration, and fostering connections with the Chinese Antarctic research community.

Xinliang Wang is a research scientist at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, specializing in fishery acoustics and polar fishery science with a focus on hydroacoustic monitoring of Antarctic krill and ecosystem‑based management.

He has joined ten South Ocean expeditions including an international cruise for the Joint Twilight Ross Sea Ecosystem Study (JTRES) in 2025. He also served as the co-convenor of the Working Group on Acoustic Survey and Analysis Methods (WG‑ASAM) of the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (SC-CAMLR) from 2020 to 2026.

Angela Garzia is a physical oceanographer at the Marche Polytechnic University (Ancona, Italy), working with Prof. Pierpaolo Falco. Angela holds a PhD (2026) jointly from the Marche Polytechnic University and Sapienza University of Rome, with a thesis on water mass circulation and thermohaline properties along the Ross Ice Shelf.

Her research focuses on dense shelf water formation, polynya dynamics, and water mass circulation in the Ross Sea, using hydrographic observations, Argo floats, and glider data. She has participated in two Italian Antarctic expeditions (PNRA) aboard the R/V Laura Bassi (2024, 2025), and spent nine months as a visiting student at Earth Sciences New Zealand in Wellington.

She is excited to join the SOOS Ross Sea Regional Working Group Leadership Team and contribute to coordinating research efforts across the region. 

News article 30/06/2026/JB