The EPOC Steering Committee oversees scientific delivery across the project’s five research work packages and ensures that EPOC meets its objectives within scope, time, and budget. The committee comprises the lead and deputy lead of each work package, the EPOC Coordinator, and the Project Manager. It meets regularly to review progress, address emerging challenges, and coordinate across the consortium partner institutions.
For general enquiries and media requests, contact the EPOC Project Office at info@epoc-eu.org.
Eleanor Frajka-Williams
Institution: Universität Hamburg
Role: EPOC Coordinator / WP5 Lead
Professor of Ocean Dynamics in a Changing Climate at Universität Hamburg; leads EPOC and specialises in observational studies of AMOC variability, ocean gliders, and the role of salinity in shaping large-scale ocean circulation.
Kaja Scheliga
Institution: Universität Hamburg
Role: EPOC Project Manager
EPOC Project Manager at Universität Hamburg, responsible for consortium coordination, reporting, and financial management across the project’s 24 partner institutions.
Adam Blaker*
Institution: National Oceanography Centre
Role: WP1 lead
Research scientist in the Marine Systems Modelling group at the National Oceanography Centre, with 20 years’ experience running ocean and coupled climate models and comparing simulated AMOC behaviour with observations.
Laura de Steur
Institution: Norwegian Polar Institute
Role: WP1 deputy
Senior researcher at the Norwegian Polar Institute, leading mooring observations in western Fram Strait and specialising in Arctic freshwater flux, ocean heat transport to the Arctic, and the role of the East Greenland Current in AMOC variability.
*Adam took over the leadership of WP1 from Joel Hirschi (NOC) in mid-2025
Christian Mertens
Institution: University of Bremen
Role: WP2 lead
Physical oceanographer at the University of Bremen specialising in observational studies of AMOC variability at mid-latitudes, and the ocean processes that link subpolar and subtropical circulation across the Atlantic.
Jochem Marotzke
Institution: Max Planck Institute
Role: WP2 deputy
Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and a foundational figure in AMOC science, whose theoretical work on boundary densities and geostrophic balance underpinned the establishment of the RAPID monitoring array.
Jon Robson
Institution: University of Reading
Role: WP3 lead
Professor at the University of Reading’s Department of Meteorology and co-chair of the WCRP Decadal Climate Prediction Project, specialising in North Atlantic decadal variability, the drivers of AMOC change, and their broader climate impacts.
David Thornalley
Institution: University College London
Role: WP3 deputy
Professor of Palaeoceanography at University College London, leading research into past AMOC changes using marine sediment cores and proxy reconstructions, with a focus on the last millennium and the instrumental era.
Rym Msadek
Institutions: CNRS / CERFACS
Role: WP4 lead
Senior researcher at CNRS/CERFACS specialising in decadal climate variability and prediction, the role of aerosol forcing in driving AMOC change, and projections of future AMOC evolution under different climate scenarios.
Hongdou Fan
Institution: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Role: WP4 deputy
Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology investigating the mechanisms driving AMOC variability, with a focus on ultra-high resolution coupled simulations.
Eleanor Frajka-Williams
Institution: Universität Hamburg
Role: EPOC Coordinator / WP5 Lead
Professor of Ocean Dynamics in a Changing Climate at Universität Hamburg; leads EPOC and specialises in observational studies of AMOC variability, ocean gliders, and the role of salinity in shaping large-scale ocean circulation.
Pete Brown
Institution: National Oceanography Centre
Role: WP5 deputy
Research scientist at the National Oceanography Centre specialising in biogeochemical sensor integration on AMOC transport mooring arrays, and the role of ocean circulation in Atlantic carbon and nutrient budgets.
Vikki Gunn
Institution: Seascape Consultants Ltd
Role: WP6 lead
Director of Seascape Consultants and WP6 lead, responsible for EPOC’s stakeholder engagement, dissemination, and communication strategy across the consortium’s 24 partner institutions.
Damien Desbruyeres
Institution: IFREMER
Role: Fieldwork Coordination Lead
Researcher specialising in observational physical oceanography with a focus on global ocean heat uptake and the large-scale circulation and heat content of the North Atlantic.