A long-time EMBL partner provides critical ocean-based complement to coastal expedition
The Tara Ocean Foundation engaged in public outreach in Tallinn, Estonia, in July 2023. A teenager is trying out the virtual reality activity. Credit: Anne-Kristell Jouan/Fondation Tara Océan
Since 2009, EMBL and Tara Ocean Foundation have had an important symbiotic research relationship. The Tara schooner has taken EMBL scientists into coastal and deep waters for collaborative ventures. At the same time, EMBL has provided its unique expertise and cutting-edge technology that has complemented the foundation’s own.
The power of partnership
After collecting ~70,000 samples of water, soil, sediment, aerosols, and select species, the EMBL Traversing European Coastlines (TREC) project ended its field sampling phase. However, none of that work – as well as the work to come – would be possible without a wide variety of partners.
“TREC is pan-European. It is multidisciplinary. And it has been one of the most collaborative expeditions and scientific projects aimed at studying coastal ecosystems across scales with a holistic approach at an unprecedented scale,” said Paola Bertucci, EMBL’s Head of Scientific Expeditions. “No institution can do this alone; project success relies on a shared vision, motivation, and extraordinary knowledge from TREC partners who share our commitment to excellence. Together, we ensure that TREC is carried out at the highest standards, creating an impact that resonates across Europe’s scientific landscape.”
Thus far, more than 90 institutions have joined the TREC mission, lending their expertise, while also reaping benefits from EMBL’s experts and unique technological tools. As scientists pore through the massive amount of data they now have, scrutinising materials with cutting-edge technology and tools, we present a series of short articles reflecting on the collaborative work the project cultivated.
So, it was no surprise that EMBL reached out to their faithful research collaborator, the Tara Ocean Foundation, when it began planning to traverse Europe’s coastlines to learn more about microbial communities and coastal ecosystems. In fact, Tara served as the inspiration for the ambitious TREC project.
As EMBL researchers gathered aerosol, sediment, and soil samples along the very edges of Europe’s coasts and in shallow waters, other researchers worked onboard the Tara schooner to pursue complementary field sampling in Europe’s coastal waters from a marine-based vantage. Additionally, they committed to important public outreach throughout the project. The Foundation was one of the three core partners of the TREC expedition.
Romain Troublé is a French marine biologist by training, an environmental advocate, and Tara Ocean Foundation’s Executive Director. We reached out to him for his thoughts on this ambitious project and the role his organisation played.
Romain Troublé is a French marine biologist by training, an environmental advocate, and Tara Ocean Foundation’s Executive Director. He shared his thoughts on TREC and the role his organisation played. Credit: Kinga Sirling/EMBL
How were you and your organisation involved in the TREC expedition?
In the past 20 years, the Tara Ocean Foundation has undertaken multiple major scientific expeditions at sea and across 75 countries and done public outreach during port calls around the world, acquiring a pretty unique ‘savoir-faire’ in logistics, politics, and storytelling. We brought all this expertise and fame to the TREC partners during the expedition’s preparation and deployment. For many partners, it was their first time working outside their laboratories – definitely a game changer. We believe that collaborating with such a group of institutions of excellence in science will enhance the credibility of the research programmes that we will shape in the future.
What do you most look forward to now with respect to TREC?
Everything we do as a foundation is to support solutions to the actual environmental crisis. On TREC, beyond the discovery of a still unknown coastal biodiversity, we look forward to what we will learn from the focus on sewage impacts on ecosystems critical to our health. There, we envision the ability to advocate for enhanced water-quality policies in Europe and beyond. And, this partnership is solidifying the 15-year relationship we have built with EMBL.
Charlotte Begouen (left) and David Monmarché (right) rinse the net on the Tara schooner, on 8 August, 2023. Credit: Maéva Bardy/Fondation Tara Ocean
What’s your best memory during your involvement with TREC?
The combination of the Tara schooner sampling effort in coordination with the land sampling teams, along with the huge Advanced Mobile Lab (AML) truck, was mind-blowing for all the people we met on the road. At times, the technologies that TREC brought to local researchers felt like ‘science fiction’. You could see this in the eyes of the researchers we met. For instance, some of them had never seen the species they worked on for years with this level of detail.
Why is TREC important?
Society-wise, we are at a critical point. The climate has been changing at an unprecedented pace, and we are also polluting our environment enormously. TREC’s expertise is unique in the world. Collectively, we will be able to showcase chemical pollution patterns and impacts on the biodiversity we depend on, and give policymakers enough knowledge to prioritise the worst chemicals to address for the sake of our health. It will be a game changer towards the One Health vision on our planet, and why not a future Blue Deal in Europe to restore our water quality?
How has TREC partnering affected your work?
TREC mobilised 70% of our team for the past two years. It was a massive undertaking, and we adapted to work with a ‘co-pilot in the cockpit’ for the betterment of the project. We definitely succeeded together, and many countries, including the biggest in Asia, are already asking us how we did it and how they too could replicate it locally!
