Ross Sea Welcomes new Co-Chair 

The Ross Sea Regional Working Group (Ross Sea RWG) is proud to announce that Michelle LaRue will follow in Walker Smith's footsteps as Co-chair. Walker has served as Ross Sea RWG Co-chair since 2017. SOOS would like to thank him for his valuable contributions as well as for all his time and effort he put into the working group. At the same time, we would like to congratulate Michelle on her new position.

Michelle LaRue is an associate professor at the University of Canterbury, who studies the population dynamics and biogeography of ice obligate predators. Her work has resulted in global population estimates for two species of penguin and also for the Weddell seal. Michelle has been to the Ross Sea seven times since 2008 and is the co-chair of the SCAR Expert Group on Bird and Marine Mammals and is also a member of the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group.

SOOS welcomes Michelle in her new role and wishes her a great start!