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Tuesday, 20 September 2011

A leading world marine research body has awarded its highest honour to the head of the Oceans Institute at The University of Western Australia.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has awarded its Prix d'Excellence to Professor Carlos M. Duarte, Director of the UWA Oceans Institute.

Professor Duarte received his award at an opening ceremony for the ICES Annual Science Conference in Gdansk, Poland, on Monday 19 September.

ICES Awards Committee Chair Dr Edward Houde said Professor Duarte was an outstanding marine ecologist who has made many valuable contributions to marine science and oceanography.

"His broad reach extends to all parts of the globe where he has conducted research on marine ecosystems, especially the flux of carbon, microbial ecology, and comparative analysis of ecosystems," Dr Houde said.

As well as heading the UWA Oceans Institute, Professor Duarte also led the Spanish Malaspina 2010 Expedition that sailed the world's oceans to explore biodiversity and study the impacts of global change on ocean ecosystems.

"I feel greatly honoured," Professor Duarte said.  "This award recognises the research my collaborators and I have conducted and shows that the vision of the UWA Oceans Institute - to provide ocean solutions for humanity's grand challenges - is shared and appreciated by our peers."

The Prix d'Excellence is ICES's top award and recognises the highest level of achievement in marine sciences.  It is usually presented every three years.

Founded in 1902, ICES is a network of more than 1600 scientists from 200 institutes and 20 member countries dedicated to promoting marine research in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas.

Professor Duarte has conducted research across Europe, South-East Asia, Cuba, México, USA, Australia, the Amazonia, the Arctic, the Southern Ocean, and the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

He also heads the Department of Global Change Research at the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies in Mallorca, Spain, and is a member of the European Research Council.

Media references

Professor Carlos M. Duarte (Director, UWA Oceans Institute)  (+61 8)  6488 8123
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783

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