The physical oceanographer Joao Vitorino is a collaborator of the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute (IH), a state laboratory integrated in the Portuguese Navy.
Throughout his professional career at IH, João Vitorino, keen to jointly tackle the challenges of the Atlantic Ocean, has been involved in many successful international cooperative actions through the planning and conduction of multidisciplinary cruises onboard the hydrographic vessels of the Portuguese Navy, and through the participation in many European funded Projects. Recently João Vitorino has been an active collaborator in the AANChOR project, as a national expert for the area of marine observation infrastructures participating in the AA-MARINET Joint Pilot Action in the context of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance.
“The complex questions that we all presently face regarding the Ocean – climate change, biodiversity preservation, sustainable fisheries, among many others – can only be answered through a global collaborative effort. The Atlantic, rather than representing a geographical barrier, should be seen as the common space bridging our specificities and individual contributions and boosting those vital collaborations” João Vitorino, IH, Portugal
The All-Atlantic Marine Research Infrastructure Network (AA-MARINET) Joint Pilot Action which is led by IFREMER and co-lead by AIR Centre, builds on the premise that “we are missing opportunities to collaborate and to extend and optimize ocean observations, simply because frequently we do not know each other or what each other is doing”. Therefore AA-MARINET aims to give the opportunity to stakeholders to share information about planned observation activities and available spare capacities, to promote and facilitate the convergence and alignment of R&I infrastructure initiatives, improving the support of multidisciplinary science to address global societal challenges.
Are you curious to know more about the work of a physical oceanographer?
Have a look at our brief interview to João Vitorino and find out more about his career and responsibilities at Hydrographic Institute, the AA-MARINET JPA, and other case studies on international cooperation.
Interview and article written by Marta Norton, FCT
