image: Group photo of the ANERIS consortium during the project kick-off in front of the ICM-CSIC building in Barcelona, Spain view more
Credit: Pensoft Publishers
ANERIS, an EU-funded collaborative research project focused on developing a network for operational marine biology, has officially kicked off. The project aims to advance the understanding of marine ecosystems and promote sustainable practices by providing real-time data on key indicators of ocean health.
Led by the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM - CSIC), the consortium of 25 partners from 13 countries across the EU, Norway, Turkey and Israel, ANERIS will leverage cutting-edge technology and interdisciplinary expertise to develop a network of sensors, data platforms, and analytical tools that will enable the monitoring and analysis of key marine biodiversity indicators. The project is set to run for four years, and its findings are expected to have a significant impact on the field of marine biology and the sustainable use of ocean resources. By providing real-time data on key indicators of ocean health, ANERIS will support policy-makers and stakeholders in making informed decisions regarding conservation, exploitation and management of ocean resources.
ANERIS brings together a diverse group of partners, including research institutions, universities, and technology companies. By leveraging their collective expertise, ANERIS aims to create a comprehensive network that will enable the monitoring of key marine biodiversity indicators via imaging, genomic and other technologies. The joint mission of the partners for the next four years is to build the next generation of marine-sensing instruments for systematic routine measurements and monitoring of oceanic and coastal life, and their rapid interpretation and dissemination to all interested stakeholders. In total, ANERIS aims to pioneer 11 novel technologies related to marine ecosystem monitoring, data processing and dissemination, particularly addressed to increase the the marine observational capacity and the competitiveness of the different research infrastructures involved in the project (EMSO-ERIC, LifeWatch, EMBRC, EuroBioImaging and EGI).
“The upcoming environmental challenges in our seas, such as global warming or the anthropogenic impacts at large scale, demand holistic observational approaches. With ANERIS we plan to cover many of the temporal, spatial and taxonomic gaps we may identify nowadays,” says the ANERIS Project Coordinator Jaume Piera of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
The final goal of the project, through the creation and validation of these novel technologies and involving academia, industry, governments and civil society, is to build up the concept of Operational Marine Biology (OMB). Through the OBM, ANERIS will be able to provide faster, higher quality, reliable, and accessible marine and coastal life data. OMB opens the door for near-real-time marine observations, data interpretation and decision making based on that data.