In his speech at this year’s opening ceremony, Director Feng Jun said that the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China is committed to promoting international cooperation in the field of oceans and attaches great importance to international training in marine scientific and technological capabilities. The opening of the course was endorsed and signed off by the director of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Dr Jun Feng, alongside local authorities led by Longmu Xei, who represented the Qingdao West Coast New Area.

Professor Fangli Qiao, director of the Ocean Dynamics and Climate Research Centre and First Institute of Oceanography, gave an introductory lecture dealing with the development and application of new generation general ocean circulation models. Another high-ranking dignitary who attended the opening event is the director of Elsevier, Dr Yan Sun. It was exciting for the attendees to encounter these “big names” at the opening ceremony.

Purpose 

The purpose of the course is to offer training to emerging scientists and to expose them to global connections in the field of ocean science that they can partner with. The training focused on ocean and ecosystem model development, and the importance of coupling models together to accurately resolve different physical processes.

Trainees were exposed to different ocean and ecosystem models and different regions around the world by internationally renowned experts in the field. This inspired considerable interest and ideas for future studies in our region and a keenness to work together with other scientists.

The theory pertaining to different ocean numerical models was presented by various international lecturers based on applications in different regions of the world. The course included a further opportunity for the trainees to hone their skills in proposal development for funding, both from business and from the public sector – a skill that is likely to be very useful in the future.

As the only two South African trainees who attended the course, Nkululeko Memela and Laura Braby from SAEON’s Egagasini Node represented NRF-SAEON and the country. Both speak very highly of the IOC training and the opportunity it provided for professional development.

Nkululeko remarked that the training classes were attended by more PhD holders and PhD candidates than he has ever encountered before. He highlighted a comment made by Prof. Fangli Qiao: “We aim to develop ocean scientists who see the global ocean as an ocean rather than the different ocean basins named as the various oceans.” Viewing the world oceans as a single entity creates room for establishing integrated modelling systems that support the objectives of the Ocean Decade programmes by bringing various coastal nations together in a collaborative effort.