Professor Alberto Naveira Garabato appointed Regius Professor of Ocean Sciences
The University of Southampton is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Alberto Naveira Garabato as Regius Professor in Ocean Sciences. The prestigious Regius Professorship was bestowed on the University by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in recognition of Southampton’s international leadership in ocean science and maritime systems. Professor Naveira Garabato succeeds Professor Bryden as previous Regius Professor of Ocean Sciences at the School.
Professor Naveira Garabato’s appointment is in recognition of his distinguished track record in researching how the ocean circulation works. This research involves leading and participating in many expeditions to remote parts of the planet (often the seas around Antarctica) to measure oceanic turbulent processes from ships and autonomous robots, and then thinking about how those processes influence global ocean circulation by using mathematical theories and computer simulations.
Professor Naveira Garabato commented, “I am honoured to have been appointed Regius Professor in Ocean Sciences at Southampton. I look forward to not only continuing Professor Bryden’s impressive work but also seeking to advance our understanding of the ocean by driving the development and application of a range of new observing technologies, based on marine autonomous robotics and distributed sensor networks.”
Professor Mark Moore, Head of School of Ocean and Earth Science added, “Professor Harry Bryden’s was the first Regius Professor of Ocean Sciences appointed in the country and he has advanced the success of our School and the UK ocean science community on an international scale. I am delighted that Professor Alberto Naveira Garabato will now take up this prestigious role to continue Southampton’s international leadership in ocean science and maritime systems.”
Professor Naveira Garabato joined the University of Southampton in 2005 as a NERC Advanced Research Fellow, after obtaining a PhD from the University of Liverpool in 1999 and working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of East Anglia. He was the founder of NEXUSS – the NERC / EPSRC Centre of Doctoral Training in the Smart and Autonomous Observation of the Environment, which he has directed since 2016 and which has supported 45 PhD students across 8 U.K. institutions.
Professor Naveira Garabato’s research has been recognised with numerous awards and honours, including the Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in 2008, a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2010, the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2014, and Honorary Fellowship of the British Antarctic Survey in the same year. In 2020, he was awarded the Challenger Medal by the Challenger Society for Marine Science, and in 2022 a prestigious Advanced Grant by the European Research Council. Most recently, in 2023, Professor Naveira Garabato has been awarded the Fridtjof Nansen Medal by the EGU.