on May 10, 2021
Ifremer’s research units in Nantes have a scientific identity focused on the interactions between sea and health, in a global One Health approach (environmental, animal and human health). They investigate i.e.: the quality of marine waters and the contaminations that affect them; the land-sea continuum and the cumulative impacts of human activities; and the management of aquaculture and fisheries resources. Ocean engineering is also an essential topic for Ifremer, not only in Nantes but at national scale. The Ifremer research teams in Brest and Toulon have a strong partnership with the Ecole Centrale de Nantes and the University of Nantes in this field, particularly within the framework of the Carnot MERS Institute. The skills of the Ifremer teams in Nantes can strengthen this partnership by broadening the scope of ocean engineering to include the dimensions of environmental impacts and socio-economic drivers.
The coastal ocean is subject to a growing number of natural and anthropogenic pressures generating cumulative impacts: climate change, fragmentation and deterioration of habitats, increased inputs of chemical inputs or/and nutrients, microbiological contamination, invasion of non-native species or unbalanced spreading of native species, over-exploitation of living marine resources, etc.
The issue of the cumulative impacts of human activities on the marine environment has now been clearly identified by governments and taken into account in a number of policies. However, too often, these impacts are still assessed by summing up the indices of the various pressures exerted on the environment. Tools and methods are still insufficient to adequately address the non-linearities that may appear when similar effects are repeated (e.g. several plants of the same nature along a catchment area) or different activities are associated (e.g. the cumulative impact of different pollutants, or the cumulative impacts of human activities such as renewable marine energy and fishing).
Multi-risk analysis of simultaneous or cascading events, integrating joint probabilities, appears a possible way forward. However, whatever methods are used, they must aim to bring together the various scientific disciplines working on the different risk components.
Ifremer operates observatory networks and open databases on a European scale. The institute has undertaken innovative technological developments to characterise biodiversity in situ (flow cytometry, eDNA). It can count on the most up-to-date geochemical proxies for oceanic aqueous matrices through the Ocean Spectroscopy Pole, but also on the deployment of tools facilitating in situ chemical characterisation.
These new measurements can be used to understand the processes controlling the physical and biogeochemical evolution of the water bodies of concern and to build new models controlled by the processes or data.
The main scientific objective of the Blue Chair is to develop an integrative approach, involving different research fields, to assess cumulative impacts of human activities on the marine environment.
The ocean is both the ultimate receptacle of chemical and biological contamination from the continents, and a supplier of resources, particularly food. Within the framework of a One Health/EcoHealth approach, the land-sea continuum is an object of primary interest that can be explored, from the understanding of contamination pathways in marine ecosystems to the contamination effects on health (both human and animal), as the exploited living resources are a link between environmental quality and consumer’s health.
Although a great deal of work already exists in this field, it often takes into consideration only one category of contaminants at the time. However, considering the exposome (i.e. the sum of environmental exposures throughout life) and its consequences on human and animal health prompts for the development of new concepts and new integrated approaches to understand the complexity of marine ecosystem contamination and its effects. This will be the purpose of the "Contaminants, Sea and Health" chair.
This chair will be associated with the units of the Ifremer site in Nantes who are developing, through various projects and with local partners, recognised work targeting different types of contaminants (viruses and bacteria, chemical contaminants or toxic micro-algae). The main objective is to develop an integrative approach regarding the relationship between the contamination of marine ecosystems and human health. This approach will be grounded in the local projects, reinforcing the partnerships with the health sector.
Candidates must have a minimum of 4 years of experience after obtaining their PhD.
The appointed candidate will be awarded funding for a maximum of 5 years, that will cover the scientist salary, at least one PhD student and one post-doctoral student, together with operating costs and possibly investment costs.
The selection of the candidates will be based on an application to be submitted to the Scientific Directorate of Ifremer before October 15th, 2021.
The application must be submitted on time, in the requested format, and be complete.
Applications should be in English and must include the following documents:
The research project must contain:
The location of the Chair, the research ambition of the Pays de Loire region and its support to Ifremer’s activities and projects are all elements that may freely encourage candidates to strengthen their project by seeking sources of co-financing from the Pays de Loire Regional Council or other regional players interested in either one of the two themes of the call for applications. In order for Ifremer to anticipate the administrative procedures for operating the Chair and to adapt them to the situation of the appointed candidate, the candidates must explain their individual administrative situation and the conditions and constraints they may encounter in their application.
https://wwz.ifremer.fr/en/Latest-news/Call-for-applications-Ifremer-kick-starts-its-first-Research-Blue-Chair Ifremer Scientific Director: anne.renault@ifremer.fr
Ifremer Atlantic Research Center Director: pierre.labrosse@ifremer.fr
