{"id":302,"date":"2022-03-10T14:22:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T14:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/trec\/?page_id=302"},"modified":"2026-03-24T09:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:26:17","slug":"expedition","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/trec\/expedition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Expedition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The TREC expedition started in April 2023 and lasted until the end of July 2024. During that time, the researchers gathered biological samples and environmental data along the European coastline at 115 land-sea transects<\/strong>. In selected sites, time-series measurements are performed to account for annual changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expedition combines ocean <\/strong>exploration, conducted by the Tara Ocean Foundation and Tara Oceans Consortium, with parallel sampling of soil, sediment, shallow water, and selected model organisms in various habitats, <\/strong>supported by EMBL\u2019s land-based Mobile Labs<\/a> and local marine research institutions. Organismal diversity is being studied across scales, from viruses, bacteria<\/strong>, <\/strong>and protists to multicellular groups such as algae and animals<\/strong>. Analysis involves various meta- and single-cell omics as well as barcoding techniques that will be combined with innovative microscopy pipelines including automated imaging and electron microscopy. This allows unprecedented detail in associating molecular and morphological data at the single-organism and single-cell level. Besides standard oceanographic metadata, special emphasis is put on detecting metabolites as well as physical and chemical (i.e. inorganic and organic pollutants such as metals, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics) characterization of the sampled habitats, providing the environmental framework to the biodiversity and adaptation analyses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, the expedition aims to conduct systematic, standardized, and integrated sampling with multimodal environmental metadata acquisition. This integrated profiling across environmental and man-made gradients<\/strong> of micro- and macroscopic life will enable us to obtain a first of the kind, pan-European census of European coastal ecosystems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TREC expedition is embedded in the TREC project, which is governed by the TREC consortium steering committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Biomes Sampling Coordinators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Soil Biology<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Leho Tedersoo <\/h3>\n \n

\n Professor at Tartu University<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Soil biogeochemistry<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Samuel Abiven <\/h3>\n \n

\n Science director at CEREEP and research professor at ENS, CNRS<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Sediments<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Raffaele Siano <\/h3>\n \n

\n Researcher at IFREMER<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Coastal and offshore waters<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Colomban de Vargas <\/h3>\n \n

\n Tara Europa Research Director at CNRS<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Shallow waters<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Flora Vincent <\/h3>\n \n

\n Group leader at EMBL<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Hugo Berthelot <\/h3>\n \n

\n Researcher at IFREMER<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Model organisms<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Detlev Arendt <\/h3>\n \n

\n Group leader and Senior scientist at EMBL<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Chemical profiling<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\n Michael Zimmermann <\/h3>\n \n

\n Group leader at EMBL<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n<\/article>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\n \n Interactive map with TREC national stops 2023\/2024 \n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n

To perform sampling as shown on the map above, TREC works closely with several local partner institutions along the way. Click to open an interactive map<\/strong> showing the national stops of the expedition and TREC activities there.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\n Coordination team <\/h2>\n

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\n Field Team <\/h2>\n

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Data management team<\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Former team members<\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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  • Alena Schmeing – Administrative officer for expeditions and Mobile labs<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Christian Marchese – Postdoctoral fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Elisa Merz – Expedition field scientist<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Emily Savage – Selected model species field technician<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Janelle Flaud – Trainee<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Joanna Zukowska – Scientific officer and Lab manager<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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    • Karina Simpertigui – Expedition assistant<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Leo Guiheneuc – Trainee<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Matej Trojak – Planetary Biology biocurator<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Phil Oel – Selected model species field scientist<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Prince Bonsu – Expedition assistant<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Severin Luca Belle – Expedition field scientist<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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      Volunteers (incomplete)<\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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      • Agustina Toscanini (EMBL Hamburg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Andrew McCarthy (EMBL Grenoble) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Anton Planchot (ENS) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Barbara Ramsak (EMBL Hamburg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Daniele Ancora (EMBL Rome) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Daphne Welter (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Eva-Maria Geissen (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Federico Clementoni (CCMAR, University of Algarve)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Federico Vignale (EMBL Hamburg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Fetemeh Ghaderi (Jena University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Flora Vincent’s group (EMBL Heidelberg)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Gautam Dey’s group (EMBL Heidelberg)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Gerald Pfister (EMBL Rome) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Hanh Vu’s group (EMBL Heidelberg)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Idoia Quintana Urzainqui (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Irena Provaznikova (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Jean Watelet <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Jess Bourn (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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        • Julie-Ma\u00ef Paris (ENS) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Luca Santangeli (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Marco Carloni (CNR-Biophysics Institute)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Maritxell Mondejar (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Mathilde Dura (EMBL Rome) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Neil Humphreys (EMBL Rome) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Pratyasha Biswas (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Roman Dubreucque (UPSL) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Sarah Schulz (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Sofia Rucli (EMBL Rome)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Swetlana Krez (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Rabotin (ENS) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Tommy Melzer (Jena University) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Vesta Petrasiunaite (EMBL Heidelberg) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Victor Secco (Universit\u00e0 Ca’ Foscari Venezia)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Victoria Witte (EMBL Heidelberg)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Yannick Schwab’s team (EMBL Heidelberg)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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          Acknowledgments<\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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          Many thanks to everyone for your dedication and work to make this expedition happen, from our numerous partner institutions and EMBL departments of Accounting, Budget Office, Comms, COO Office, Drivers, Finance, Facility Management, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Imaging Centre, International Relations, IT, Legal, Operations HD, ORD, Photolab, Planetary Biology Transversal Theme, Purchase, Reception, Stores, Strategy, Workshop, and in particular to the people listed below.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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          • Federico Clementoni (CCMAR, University of Algarve)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Marco Carloni (CNR-Biophysics Institute)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Mylene Andre (EMBL-Grenoble Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Ivica Letunic (EMBL-Heidelberg)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Suvi Turunen (EMBL-Heidelberg)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Sinisa Grubesic (EMBL-Heidelberg Accounting)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Aleksandra Krolik (EMBL-Heidelberg Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Annika Grandison (EMBL-Heidelberg Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Holly Joynes (EMBL-Heidelberg Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Lisa Vollmar (EMBL-Heidelberg Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Rossana De Lorenzi (EMBL-Heidelberg Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Tabea Rauscher (EMBL-Heidelberg Comms)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Gudrun Lange (EMBL-Heidelberg Driver)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Torsten Schiller (EMBL-Heidelberg Driver)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Corina Gorny (EMBL-Heidelberg H&S)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Joern Krausse (EMBL-Heidelberg H&S))<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Theodore Selby (EMBL-Heidelberg H&S<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Anna Steyer (EMBL-Heidelberg Imaging Centre)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Georg Wolf (EMBL-Heidelberg Imaging Centre)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Olivier Gemin (EMBL-Heidelberg Imaging Centre)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Zhengyi Yang (EMBL-Heidelberg Imaging Centre)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Dadiana Chiran (EMBL-Heidelberg IR)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Hana Jurina (EMBL-Heidelberg IR)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Plamena Markova (EMBL-Heidelberg IR)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Sarah Kaiser (EMBL-Heidelberg IR)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Carmelo Lopez Portilla (EMBL-Heidelberg IT)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Erich Schechinger (EMBL-Heidelberg IT)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Joaquim Batistsa (EMBL-Heidelberg IT)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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            • Antonios Antonopoulos (EMBL-Heidelberg Legal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Silvio Mariani (EMBL-Heidelberg Legal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Joana Witkowski (EMBL-Heidelberg ORD)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Mareile Vogler (EMBL-Heidelberg ORD)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Andrea Capranico (EMBL-Heidelberg Photolab)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Doros Panayi (EMBL-Heidelberg Photolab)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Kinga Lubowiecka (EMBL-Heidelberg Photolab)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Massimo Del Prete (EMBL-Heidelberg Photolab)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Vincenzo Lullo (EMBL-Heidelberg Photolab)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Josipa Bilic Zimmermann (EMBL-Heidelberg PB TT)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Evelyne Cudraz (EMBL-Heidelberg Purchase)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Seyhan Yonka (EMBL-Heidelberg Purchase)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Simone Retzbach (EMBL-Heidelberg Purchase)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Timm Neff (EMBL-Heidelberg Purchase)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Jessica Vamathevan (EMBL-Heidelberg Strategy)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Arthur Milberger (EMBL-Heidelberg Workshop)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Christian Luell (EMBL-Heidelberg Workshop)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Daniel von Paumgartten (EMBL-Heidelberg Workshop)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Leo Burger (EMBL-Heidelberg Workshop)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Thomas Heinzmann (EMBL-Heidelberg Workshop)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Flavio Zizzo (EMBL-Rome)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Anton Planchot (ENS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Julie-Ma\u00ef Paris (ENS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Rabotin (ENS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Fetemeh Ghaderi (Jena University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Tommy Melzer (Jena University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Roman Dubreucque (UPSL)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Jean Watelet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

              <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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