International workshop:
The role of marine biology in helping the ocean store carbon
2-4 March 2026, Glasgow, UK
The workshop is planned to take place immediately after Ocean Sciences 2026.

Marine organisms play a critical role in helping the ocean store carbon, but climate models struggle to make consistent predictions for how this may change in the future. This international workshop will address this by bringing together scientists from around the world, to pool data on key processes and to develop a roadmap for how we should represent those processes in the next generation of climate models. The intention is to publish that roadmap, and to include all participants as co-authors.

The workshop will focus on the following 10 themes, identified as key gaps in our understanding:
•    calcification and the rain ratio
•    plankton community structure
•    phytoplankton growth and micronutrients
•    the microbial loop and solubilization
•    plankton respiration
•    zooplankton processes
•    particle characteristics & ballasting
•    particle fragmentation & aggregation
•    the active flux due to vertical migration
•    the physical circulation

Participants can only participate in two themes. Please ensure you read the fuller description of themes here before selecting preferences.

Please note that work will be necessary ahead of the workshop (e.g. merging datasets, identifying priorities for a theme, assessing how processes are currently captured in models) - further details can be found here.

The workshop will be hybrid, with virtual attendance accommodated as far as possible. In person places are limited to 100. Some places will be reserved for participants not involved in the projects listed below. Applications from early career researchers are encouraged.

No funds are available to support in person participation. The registration fee will be £320 for in person. Online places will be limited to ~50. There will be no registration fee for online attendance.

This workshop is organised as part of the UK NERC BIO-Carbon research programme with the support of the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS). We are delighted to announce that the following projects will be involved: APERO (France), BIOPOLE (UK), EXPORTS (USA), OceanICU (EU), PICCOLO (UK), REMO (SCOR working group), SOLACE (Australia), TCA (Canada).

If you are interested in being involved please apply here by 24 August.

We look forward to welcoming many of the community to Glasgow in 2026. 
Scientific organising committee:
Adrian Martin, Kelsey Bisson, Philip Boyd, Sarah Cryer, Lionel Guidi, Stephanie Henson, Hans Hilder, Julie LaRoche; Laura Lorenzoni, Mark Moore, Alex Poulton, Carol Robinson, David Siegel