Team

The CUMECS team comprises scientists from 8 institutions:

• University of Barcelona (Spain)
• University of Malta (Malta)
• University College Dublin (Ireland)
• National Oceanography Centre (UK)
• NIWA (New Zealand)
• Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC (Spain)
• Sapienza Universita’ di Roma (Italy)
• University of Ulster (UK)

The CUMECS onboard team includes:

Aaron Micallef (chief scientist)

Aaron is a marine geologist investigating submarine canyons in passive and active margins offshore Spain, New Zealand and Argentina. His work focuses on analysing geophysical and sedimentological data from these canyons to identify the fundamental geological processes responsible for their initiation and evolution. His other research interests include submarine landslides, fluid flow processes, seafloor mapping and submerged landscapes.






Aggeliki Georgiopoulou (co-chief scientist)

I’m Aggie, and I use diverse datasets, both geophysical and sedimentological, to try to determine what has shaped the present day seafloor and what this means for the future. My work is related to deep-sea processes, which can affect coastal areas as well as seafloor installations such as telecommunication cables or hydrocarbon platforms. I map the extent of deposits (slide or bottom current related), try to understand how their timing relates to climate change as well as other major events in the area and human activity, and investigate the processes that take place during transport and deposition.




Veerle Huvenne

Veerle Huvenne is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (UK). Her work generally focuses on habitat mapping and sediment transport studies around cold-water coral reefs, submarine canyons and hydrothermal vents, and she loves working with underwater robotic systems (i.e. ROVs and AUVs). Therefore, during this cruise, she will be involved in the multibeam bathymetry mapping, and in the ROV video surveys, although she will be more than happy to help with the gravity coring as well.




Joshu Mountjoy

Joshu Mountjoy is a Marine Geologist researching active seafloor processes. He uses marine geophysical data (multibeam, multi-channel and high resolution seismic reflection data) and geological data (sediment cores, rock samples) to analyse submarine landscape development, particularly on New Zealand's tectonically active margins. Primary research interests include mechanisms of submarine canyon activity; submarine landslides (processes, triggering mechanisms and hazards); seafloor erosion processes, and seafloor neo-tectonics. Joshu leads several New Zealand based projects, and is involved in some large international initiatives on New Zealand’s Hikurangi margin (e.g. IODP). He works collaboratively with several international institutes and is excited to be applying his knowledge and skills to the problem of undersupplied canyon systems in the Mediterranean.




Timothy Le Bas

Tim is an expert in multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, and side-scan sonar image processing and analyses. His research interests include habitat mapping and textural analyses, and high and low frequency acoustics. He is co-ordinator and lecturer of courses in seafloor exploration and GIS.

Claudio Lo Iacono

Claudio’s interests include geomorphologic analysis and sedimentary evolution of continental margins (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, SE Iberian Margin, Gulf of Cadiz) based on acoustic data and high resolution seismic, habitat mapping, study of fauna/substrate relationships, and predictive models of benthic habitat distribution.




Eleonora Morelli

Eleonora is a marine geologist investigating the development of submarine canyons, mainly in tectonically active margins, by analysing both geophysical (multibeam bathymetry, single-channel high resolution seismic profiles, Side Scan Sonar) and sedimentological data (gravity cores). Her research focuses on identifying the processes controlling canyon formation and reconstructing the main erosive-depositional phases involved in canyons evolution. She is also involved in a national project focused on mapping of submarine geohazards along the Italian coast.




Xavi Tubau

Xavi is doing a PhD project on the geology of submarine canyons at GRC Geociències Marines (University of Barcelona). Xavier is part of the HERMIONE project and his study area is the Catalan margin, northwestern Mediterranean Sea, a mid-latitude passive siliciclastic margin incised by numerous submarine canyons. During CUMECS cruise Xavier will be in charge of multibeam echosounder mapping.




Dario Borrego

Dario is doing a PhD project at University College Dublin. His research interests include deep-water sedimentary processes and deposits, the stratigraphic record of the sedimentary systems with special interest in turbidite systems, and contourite depositional systems.

Khaira Ismail

Khaira is doing a PhD on the sedimentalogical framework as basis for predictive habitat mapping in submarine canyons at the National Oceanography Centre of Southampton Her main research interests revolve around marine habitat mapping, submarine canyons, sedimentology and marine geology. She is particularly interested in development of automated seabed classification. 






Will Evans

I am currently in the first year of my PhD at university of Ulster having previously completed an BSc in Marine science. I am investigating sediment transport on the North West Irish shelf by means of hydrodynamic modeling. I am fascinated by seafloor morphology and the processes which act upon it. The high resolution images provided by modern multibeam echo sounders can be simply astounding, be it a 17 m high sand wave, or a field of iceberg scours. On a recent cruise I also developed a passion for coring. It is a practical side to marine geology that can be exciting as you just never know what may turn up in the next core.

Ariadna Mecho

Ariadna is a biologist with an interest in megafauna observation and their behaviour in deep canyons of the Mediterranean Sea.

Carol Doya

Carol is a PhD student interested in megafauna observation and behaviour with ROV in deep sea canyons to improve our knowledge of the ethology of species in deep sea cabled observatories.








The CUMECS shore-based team includes Prof. Miquel Canals and Prof. Galderic Lastras.