CIC NEWSLETTER

No. 20 2022

Center for International Collaboration
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
The University of Tokyo

Contents• The 55th Session of the Executive Council of Intergovernmental Oceanographic

Commission (IOC)

page
1.

• The third cycle of the United Nations Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessmentof the State of the Marine Environment (WOA-III)• PICES-2022 Annual Meeting2.
3.

• JSPS International Project CREPSUM

4.

• The EarthCARE and Modeling Workshop, February 16–18, 2022

5.

• Visiting Professors / Visiting Professors’ report6.

The 55th Session of the Executive
Council of Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC)Yutaka Michida
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

T he 55 t h Session of the Execut ive Cou ncil of theIntergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) was
held as an in-person meeting from June 14 to 17, 2022, at the
Figure 1. Japanese delegation to the 55 Session of the
UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Since 2020, all governing
IOC Executive Council and related experts. Prof. Saito,
body meetings of the IOC, including the 53 rd and 54 thProf. Michida, and Mr. Yuji Nishimae of JMA (Chair ofPacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System) (front row
Executive Council sessions and 31st Assembly, were heldfrom left), Mr. Daiki Ujishi of MEXT, Dr. Kentaro Ando of
online because of the global COVID-19 pandemic; the session
JAMSTEC (Chair of IOC Subcommission for the Western
Pacific), Mr. Kota Hamada of JMA, and Dr. Toshihiko Chiba
in 2022 was the first in-person meeting organized after theof IOC Secretariat (back row from left).
th
30 Assembly in June 2019. Professor Yutaka Michida,
Director of the Center for International Collaboration (CIC) of AORI, participated as the head of the Japanesedelegation. Professor Hiroaki Saito also attended the meeting as the alternate. All Member States of the
Executive Council were requested to have a maximum of four attendees to prevent the further spread of
COVID-19. With this restriction, in addition to the two professors, two government officials attended as partof the delegation from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) andJapan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The Executive Council adopted two resolutions, namely “Implementationof the United Nations Dec­ade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030)” (IOC Resolution
EC-55/1) and “Governance, Programming, and Budgeting Matters of the Commission” (IOC Resolution
EC-55/2). For the first resolution, the Member States of the Council agreed on the establishment of Decade
coordinating mechanisms, which involves Decade Coordination Office, Decade Collaborative Centers, Decade
Implementing Partners, and National Decade Committees. The second resolution contained a set of revision
proposals to the Rules of Procedure for the IOC to meet the requirements for organizing online sessions of
the governing bodies, and a reporting mechanism for In-Kind Contributions (IKC) from the Member States
to better reflect the actual budgetary status and financial condition of the Commission based on the limited
amount of regular budget with zero nominal growth.
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Prof. Michida was appointed as the Chairperson of
the Resolutions Committee, one of the statutory sessional
committees, to examine the structure and manuscripts of draftreso­lutions duly submitted by the deadline and to report themto the plenary session of the Council for consideration andadoption. Prof. Saito actively participated in the meeting heldby the Intersessional Financial Advisory Group on June 13,
a day prior to the Council, and in the Financial Committee,
another statutory sessional committee.
Although the session proceeded smoothly, there weretimes when the atmosphere in the Council differed from
Figure 2. Intervention of Prof. Michida at the plenary
previous meetings, reflecting the current complex internationalsession.
situation, including geopolitical tensions due to the ongoingmilitary conflict in Ukraine. We should all be reminded of the advocacy of the Commission, “One Planet, One
Ocean.”The third cycle of the United Nations Regular Process for Global
Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment(WOA-III)
Yutaka Michida
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

The United Nations adopted the resolution A/RES/74/19 at its 74th General Assembly in 2019, launching“the third cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine
Envir­onment, including Socioeconomic Aspects,” to cover five years, from 2021 to 2025, following the two
previous cycles in 2011–2015 and 2016–2020 for the first (WOA-I)1 and second (WOA-II)2, respectively.
Through a selection process, Prof. Michida was nominated as a member of the Group of Experts (GOE)
for the current cycle, consisting of 25 members worldwide. The main responsibilities of the GOE include i)overseeing the assessment preparation(s) on the state of the marine environment, including socio-economic
aspects, with the final goal of strengthening decision-making at all levels, and ii) developing a series of brief
documents outlining specific policy-relevant information from the second world ocean assessment. The GOE
has operated fully online since its establishment in the first half of 2021 to achieve the second task.
The first in-person meeting of the GOE was held at the UN Headquarters in New York from May 9 to13,
2022. The GOE primarily discussed a set of WOA-II policy briefs, deciding to make four documents coveringi) Biodiversity, ii) Climate Change, iii) SDG-14, and iv) UN Decade of Ocean Science. Prof. Michida mainly
contributed to the document on the UN Decade of Ocean Science, from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC)’s perspective.
Following the GOE meeting in New York, a series of regional workshops have been organized with theaims of informing scoping for the third cycle assessment(s), raising awareness and providing information,
receiving feedback, and generating interest for the regional scientific community. The first workshop was heldin Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from July 19 to 27, 2022, succeeded by workshops held in Kingston, Jamaica, andBuenos Aires, Argentina, in September and in Hague, The Netherlands, in October.
The 5th Regional Workshop was conducted in Belitung, Indonesia, from December 13 to 15, 2022, which
Prof. Michida attended as a GOE member from the Asia-Pacific region (Figure 1). The workshop included
presentations by the UN Secretariat and the GOE members regarding generic ideas and views on the third
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CIC NEWSLETTER No. 20 2022

cycle, followed by 14 presentations by regional andinternational representatives on ongoing projects
and programs and regional interests in the WOAIII, including suggestions with regional perspectives.
After these presentations, participants were invited
to join one of the five breakout meetings to discussand exchange brainstorming ideas regarding, forexample, the regional priority areas, expected
outcomes from the next assessment, and forms of
Figure 1. Participants of the Regional Workshop held in Belitung,
WOA-III products. Prof. Michida was requested toIndonesia from December 13 to 15, 2022. Prof. Michida is located at thegive a short presentation summarizing the workshop
back row, in front of the letters ‘ld’ in the banner flag.
discussions and outcomes at the plenary session on
December 15 (Figure 2).
The second GOE meeting will again be held in New York in
February 2023 to deepen the discussions on the content and formatof the WOA-III, based on the inputs from the regional workshops.
1 h ttps://www.un.org/regularprocess/content/first-world-oceanassessment
2 https://www.un.org/regularprocess/woa2launch
Figure 2. Prof. Michida presenting a summary of
the Regional Workshop outcomes at the plenary
session on December 15, 2022.

PICES-2022 Annual Meeting
Mitsutaku Makino
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

The PICES-2022 Annual Meeting hosted by the Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology(KIOST) was physically held in Busan from September 23 to October 2, with the theme “Sustainabilityof Marine Ecosystems through Global Knowledge Networks during the United Nations Decade of Ocean
Science for Sustainable Development.” Both familiar and new faces finally gathered after two virtual annual
meetings in 2020 and 2021. With over 270 participants from 13 countries, the attendance was quite smaller
than the normal annual meetings held before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more Early Career Ocean
Professionals (ECOP) attended compared with previous years. One hundred and eleven individuals, which
was over 30% of the total number of participants, were ECOP, with many claiming that PICES-2022 was theirfirst in-person international event. This was excellent and encouraging news for the future of PICES.
During the opening ceremony on the first day, theWooster Award was presented to Dr. Hal Batchelder(USA) for his sustained excellence in the researchand instruction of marine science in the North
Pacific Ocean. The PICES Ocean Monitoring Service
Award (POMA) was given to the work on Japanesemonitoring research activities on mesozooplankton
for its long t i me ser ies of mesozoopla n k ton
monitoring that began in 1949, with more than 17,000
zooplankton tows. This work has contributed to our
Scenes at PICES-2022 courtesy of the PICES Secretariat.
knowledge of the mechanisms concerning the longterm variability of fisheries productivity.
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CIC NEWSLETTER No. 20 2022

Fourteen scientific sessions,t e n wo r k sho p s , a nd a p o s t e r
session were organized, totaling
170 oral presentations, of whicheight speakers were invited, and68 poster presentations. During theclosing ceremony of the final day,
Early Career Presentation Awards
were presented for each scientificsession. We congratulate the three
students from AORI, Ms. NayaSena, Mr. Hajime Tanaka, and Ms.
Hana Matsubara, for receiving
awards. The next annual meeting
will be held in Seattle, USA.

Wonderful artistic summary of PICES-2022 drawn by Dr. Sanae Chiba, the PICES Deputy
Executive Secretary.

JSPS International Project CREPSUM
Hiroaki Saito
Professor, Center for International Collaboration

AORI has spearheaded international collaborations and activities between
Japan and Southeast Asian (SEA) countries for over two decades. One of its
leading initiatives is a multinational research and education program funded by
the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). In autumn 2019, after thetermination of the previous JSPS program, Research and Education Network
on Coastal Ecosystems in Southeast Asia (RENSEA) 2016–18, AORI held aninter­n ational planning workshop to discuss emergent issues in SEA coastaleco­systems. In acknowledgment of the discussions and common interests ofFig. 1 Cover of the General
Management Guide for Harmful
the attendees, we launched a new international project called Collaborative
Jellyfish Stings in the Western
Research and Education Project in Southeast Asia for Sustainable Use of Marine
Pacific and Adjacent Areas, Eds.
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai et al .
Ecosystems (CREPSUM) that began in the spring of 2020 and was funded
ISBN: 978-629-97500-0-0
by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program. Over 200 scientists have since gathered
under CREPSUM, hoping to achieve the following transdisciplinary goals: 1) establishing an international
science and educational network for SEA marine ecosystems, 2) progressing marine ecosystem studies
addressing emergent issues in conservation and the sustainable use of SEA marine ecosystem services, and 3)
contributing to the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences and UN SDG 14: Life below water efforts by imparting thebest scientific knowledge on marine ecosystems.
Unfortunately, the anticipated launch of CREPSUM coincided with the global COVID-19 pandemic.
During 2020–2021, most of the planned field research activities and training courses were canceled. Under these
difficult conditions, the CREPSUM scientists instead published field guides on sea creatures (e.g., pufferfish,
mollusks, jellyfish) and review papers concerning past collaborative activities through online discussions.
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CIC NEWSLETTER No. 20 2022

One highlight from the CREPSUM activities was
the publication of General Management Guide forHarmful Jellyfish Stings in the Western Pacific andAdjacent Areas (https://www.crepsum.com/post/
new-book-general-management-guide-for-harmfuljellyfish-stings) (Fig. 1), based on the Jellyfish
Identification Workshop held in March 2022 aboutjellyfish biology and taxonomy (Fig. 2). This booktargets not only scientists but also med­ical doctors
Fig. 2 On-line workshop for Jellyfish Identification, March 2022. Highand public health officers as it demonstrates a firstquality microscope images/videos (left) were shared on-line withattendees and lecturers (right).
aid guide for venomous jellyfish stings, which is aserious concern for people who use coastal marine
ecosystems for fishery and tourism. This is a good example of using scientific knowledge for social issues in
SEA countries.
In response to the relaxation of international travel regulations of member countries, we resumed the
conduct of field activities in the summer of 2022. To relay the progress of CREPSUM activities during the last
three years and discuss future collaborations between Japan and SEA countries, an in-person CREPSUM Joint
Seminar will be held at AORI, UTokyo, in March 2023. We look forward to meeting with the CREPSUM
scientists.

The EarthCARE and Modeling Workshop,
February 16–18, 2022
Masaki Satoh, Professor, Division of Ocean-Earth System Science
Kentaro Suzuki, Professor, Division of Climate System Research

The EarthCARE
satellite mission.

A new satellite called EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) will soon be launched
as a joint European and Japanese mission. The EarthCARE satellite is intended to observe the atmosphere's
cloud, aerosol, and radiation processes and improve climate models by better understanding the processes
with these observations. At the time of the meeting, the launch was scheduled for 2023.
To enhance collaboration between the EarthCARE observations and modeling, the EarthCARE ModelingWorkshop was held as an online meeting on February 16–18, 2022. The workshop was organized by Profs.
Masaki Satoh and Kentaro Suzuki (AORI/The University of Tokyo), Prof. Bjorn Stevens (Max Planck
Institute for Meteorology), Prof. Hajime Okamoto(Kyushu University), and Dr. Takuji Kubota (Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency). About 20 experts
were invited for 15-min oral presentations on the
EarthCARE satellite projects, numerical modelers
actively studying the satellite data of global stormresolving model evaluations or conventional climate
models, satellite simulators, and cloud/convective
processes. In this workshop, we first introduced
EarthCARE to modelers, then discussed the key
topics concerning the evaluation and improvementof models' cloud/convection/aerosol processes using
Snapshot of the online meeting showing a group photo of the workshop
attendees (February 16, 2022).
EarhCARE observations. Rapporteurs prepared daily
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CIC NEWSLETTER No. 20 2022

summary reports of these discussions.
With the successful conduct of the workshop, the EarthCARE science teams of Japan and Europe havetaken the outcomes and have made continuous efforts to enhance the EarthCARE studies. The second
EarthCARE and Modeling Workshop will be held in Japan on March 27–29, 2023, to further deepen
discussions and use the Ethe arthCARE observations for modeling.
The presentation material and summary reports are available at https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/EARTHCARE/
event/Modeling_ws2022/.

Visiting Professors
Name / Affiliation

Nationality

Length of stay

Subject for study

LEICHTER, James
Scripps Inst. Of Oceanography
Professor

USA

2021/10/2-12/12

A J a p a n - U. S . c o l l a b o r a t i v e s t u d y o n t h eenvironmental and community dynamics in coastal
marine ecosystems

MILLER, Patrick
University of St Andrews
Professor

USA

2021/10/172022/2/17

Use of biologging techniques to study the
behaviour, physiology, and body condition of
diving animals

Visiting Professors’ report
James Leichter

also able to continue collaborations with former

Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California San Diego
Professor

AORI postdoctoral research, Prof. Alex Wyatt, anda manuscript from that work is now in press at
Nature Communications. In this new analysis ofWith ver y kind suppor t from the AOR I

long-term time series observations on coral reefs

Administrative Office, University of Tokyo, and Prof.

we describe evidence that mesoscale eddies modify

Toshi Nagata and assistant Kotoko Ogawa I wasthermocline depths and the resulting cooling byable to arrange a visit from October to December

internal waves that can either protect deeper water

2021. The office and staff were all very helpful incorals from bleaching, for example as observed inarranging the more complicated international travel

2016 and some earlier years, or in cases whenoccurring still during the restrictions associatedinternal waves are disrupted can cause enhancedwith the covid-19 responses. The visit was very

bleaching as we observed in 2019. We suggest

successful and provided opportunities to connectthat variability on the time scale of ‘ocean weather’scientifically again with Prof. Nagata and his

may be an important component of biologicalresearch group. A main scientific theme of our

responses including large scale coral bleaching.

discussions and continuing interests are the roles

This work follows direc tly from our earlierof currents and mesoscale eddies interacting withpublication in Nature Geosciences in which we

coastal ecosystems. New field work and internal

described internal wave cooling at sites across thetravel within Japan was not possible during theeastern, central, and western Pacific. We hope andtime period, but this was a productive time to work

anticipate in future to have opportunities to returnon manuscripts and interact scientifically. I wasto our field sites in Okinawa and Iriomote for6

CIC NEWSLETTER No. 20 2022

continued investigations. I am very grateful for theof Oceanography in California USA. International

opportunity to continue productive collaborations

collaborations are very scientifically productive andwith colleagues at AORI University of Tokyo andintellectually stimulating experiences. I thank you

extend again my invitation for colleagues to visit

again for the opportunity and the support.

our researchers and facilities at Scripps Institution

Patrick Miller
Sea Mammal Research Unit; School of Biology
University of St Andrews; Scotland UK
Professor

I was very fortunate to have been able to attend
AORI as a visiting professor (客員教授) from
October 2021 to April 2022. My hosts in the
Department of Marine Bioscience were Professor
Katsufumi Sato and Assistant Professor Kagari
Aoki. Because of our strong ongoing collaborative
research efforts, I have had the good fortune tohave been invited as a visiting professor on several
previous occasions, including 2011 and 2015. Thus,
the chance to visit AORI again in 2021-2022 was achance to renew and strengthen already longlasting relationships, and to explore the future of

Photo 1: Enjoying scientific discussions at Hama Sushi
Restaurant, outside AORI, University of Tokyo. From rightto left: Visiting professor Patrick Miller, AORI host Professor
Katsufumi Sato, AORI host Assistant Professor Kagari Aoki, andDr Takashi Iwata (now Assistant Professor at Kobe University).
Assistant Professors Aoki and Iwata previously held overseas
JSPS postdoctoral positions in the Miller lab in the School of
Biology at the University of St Andrews. We took off facemasks only when taking pictures.

collaboration in terms of institutional cooperation,

Kawamura and Head of School of Biology Professor

research projects and cutting-edge tools, andFrank Gunn-Moore. The MOU represents a formal

human interactions to define future scientificaffirmation of what has long existed as a strong

horizons in our field.

collaboration between my own lab and that of my
AORI hosts, with numerous jointly authored papers

On the institutional level, I am proud to havefrom 2006 to present, exchange of researchers

ser ved as a coordinator to ex tend a formal

including several overseas JSPS postdoctoral

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between

researchers working in my lab, including Drs Aoki

AOR I and my own School of Biology at theand Iwata (Photo 1).

University of St Andrews. This MOU was firstestablished in March 2007 by AORI director

It is always an honour for me to participate asProfessor Makoto Terazaki and Head of the School

visiting professor in the diverse scientific researchof Biology Professor David Paterson, to promote

being undertaken at AORI.

cooperation through exchange of faculty andresearch with the Department of Marine Science isresearch staff, conducting joint research, andfocused on Biologging Science – what we can learn

exchange of academic information and publications.

about animals and their environments by attaching

As a sign of the strength of our interactions on thisdata-recording loggers to them. Because of theins titutional leve l, the MO U was e x te nde dchallenge to observe marine animals, the key topreviously in 2012 and 2017 – and during my own

advancing this research is constant improvement

visit in 2022 it was extended again for 5 more

and refinement of the Biologging tools that weyears by AOR I direc tor Professor Tomohikoattach to animals. One of the world’s leading

My collaborative

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CIC NEWSLETTER No. 20 2022

Photo 2. Discussing Biologging technologies at Little Leonardo
Corporation. From right to left: Visiting Professor Patrick Miller;
Little Leonardo President Michihiko Suzuki; Little Leonardo Engineer
Kazuo Yamaguchi; Little Leonardo Koichiro Ikeda; NIPR Associate
Professor Akinori Takahashi and NIPR Professor Emeritus Yasuhiko
Naito. We took off face masks only when taking pictures.

Photo 3: Patrick Miller in the AORI lobby.

have been invited to be a visiting professor at
AORI, and to be part of the productive scientificproducers of Biologging recorders is a company inenvironment of the institute. Through lectures toTokyo known as Little Leonardo (http://l-leo.com).

students, super vision meetings, seminarD u r i n g my t i m e a s V i s i t i n g P r o f e s s o r, mypresentations, and personal interactions with AORI

collaborators at AORI and I visited Little Leonardo

staff at all levels - I am proud to have contributed

to describe our ongoing research, and plans to use

in a positive manner to AORI. My lab has solid

Little Leonardo products in our next set of researchplans for a next phase of research working withproject, which will assess the effects of underwater

AORI, including a just-funded collaborative researchnoise on cetaceans in Norway and Hawaii, USA.

proposal led by the National Institute of Polar

Collaborating researchers from the Japanese

Research (NIPR), to assess the growing impacts of

National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) also

human activity on marine animals. Our ongoingparticipate in these discussions, including emeritus

collaborations will be ever more strong thanks toProfessor Yasuhiko Naito (photo 2), who continues

AORI support of personal academic exchange via

to inspire myself and future researchers in our

the Visiting Professor program.

field.
Thank you very sincerely, and I hope to see you
Despite the numerous restrictions in place due tosoon at AORI (photo 3)!!

the Coronavirus pandemic, I am very grateful to

STAFF
Director of CIC

Prof. Yutaka Michida

International Scientific Planning Prof. Yutaka Michida
International Scientific Planning Prof. Naomi HaradaInternational Advanced Research Prof. Mitsutaku Makino
International Research Cooperation Prof. Hiroaki Saito

Prof. Koji Inoue
Prof. Yusuke Yokoyama
Prof. Ryoichi Imasu
Assoc. Prof. Jin-Oh Park
Assoc. Prof. Sachihiko Itoh

Center for International Collaboration
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute,
The University of Tokyo

5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, JAPANURL : http://www.aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/8