Following a thorough selection process by the interim Steering Committee to ensure inclusivity and diversity representation, IMDOS is proud to introduce its inaugural Steering Committee. This diverse group of experts will play a pivotal role in shaping the direction of IMDOS, ensuring that its monitoring strategies are scientifically rigorous, globally inclusive, and policy-relevant. By leveraging the expertise of the Steering Committee, IMDOS will enhance its ability to provide actionable insights that contribute to both scientific advancement and practical policy implementation. Collaboration is at the heart of IMDOS. The Steering Committee will play a crucial role in fostering partnerships with governments, research institutions, NGOs, and industry players to enhance global engagement and resource-sharing.
IMDOS Steering Committee is composed of two sub-committees:
Mahesh currently serves as the COBSEA Coordinator, an intergovernmental mechanism administered by UNEP, which brings together nine countries (Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam) in protecting and conserving the marine environment of the seas of East Asia. In this role, Mahesh oversees implementation of the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI), including supporting the COBSEA Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML), with a strong focus on marine litter assessment and monitoring.
https://www.unep.org/cobsea/resources/policy-and-strategy/cobsea-regional-action-plan-marine-litter-2019-rap-mali
Vitória Scrich is an environmental scientist from the University of São Paulo (USP) and a policy advisor at the Secretariat for Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Her work focuses on marine litter and solid waste governance, with emphasis on integrating science-based approaches into public policy. She has contributed to the development of national and state strategies to combat plastic pollution, including Brazil’s National Ocean Without Plastic Strategy and São Paulo’s State Plan to Monitor and Combat Marine Litter. Vitória is a member of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty and participates in the sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
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Dr. Thomas Maes is a senior scientist and founder of SEAMOHT Ltd, an independent consultancy working at the science–policy interface on marine pollution, waste, and circular economy. With a multidisciplinary background in civil engineering, marine and terrestrial biology, and a PhD in ecotoxicology, he has over 20 years of experience across research, policy, and international projects. He supports global initiatives through collaborations with UN frameworks and Horizon Europe, focusing on marine litter, microplastics, and emerging pollutants. His work centres on harmonising monitoring approaches and translating scientific evidence into actionable policy, contributing to coordinated global observing systems such as IMDOS.
Georg Hanke is at the European Commission Joint Research Centre in the Ocean and Water Unit of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources, working on Ocean topics beyond EU. After work on the EU Water Framework Directive, specifically on chemical pollution, he has been 15 years engaged in supporting the development and implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive across all marine topics. In that context he has led the Technical Group on Marine Litter and contributed to the implementation of monitoring systems in EU. He is an IMDOS founding member, delegate to AMAP and co-leads the GPML Community of Practice on Plastics in the Environment.
Christopher Pham is a Research Associate at the Okeanos Institute for Marine Sciences, University of the Azores, with over 15 years of experience studying human impacts on deep-sea ecosystems and plastic pollution. He currently leads the Azores Marine Litter Laboratory and has authored 85 peer-reviewed publications. He is an active member of several international expert groups focused on marine pollution and deep-sea ecology, and has served as Chair of the ICES Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML). Throughout his career, he has contributed as both principal investigator and collaborator on numerous national and international research projects, and he is actively engaged in science-policy initiatives.
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Dr Victor Martinez‑Vicente is a senior bio‑optical oceanographer at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, specialising in satellite ocean‑colour remote sensing of marine ecosystems. With over 20 years’ experience, his research advances the monitoring of marine biodiversity, carbon cycling and plastic pollution through innovative, multi‑mission Earth Observation approaches and international collaboration.
Researcher at the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAN)
François Galgani, former scientist at IFREMER, chairs the NGO Echos d’Oceans, specialising in plastic pollution. He has coordinated numerous expert groups for the United Nations, Regional Seas Conventions, and the European Commission (MSFD Directive, 2010–2022). François Galgani has contributed to major global initiatives (G7, G20, UNEA) and to the European mission “Restoring Our Oceans and Waters.” Author of more than 230 international publications, he serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journals Marine Pollution Bulletin and Journal of Marine Systems, and is responsible for the “Marine Litter” chapter of the UN Global Ocean Assessment (WOA II & WOA III).
Toste Tanhua is a chemical oceanographer focusing on ocean ventilation and mixing by observing transient tracers and conducting deliberate tracer release experiments. He also works on understanding the dynamics of ocean carbon, nutrients and oxygen, and particularly the role of ocean chemistry in climate change. Toste is particularly interested in improving the sustained ocean observing systems, and currently coordinates the EU project BioGeoSea on biogeochemical Essential Ocean Variables. He is also leading the innovation platform Shaping an Ocean Of Possibilities for science-industry collaboration (SOOP), that is enabling non-scientists to observe the ocean.
Giuseppe Suaria is a marine ecologist and senior scientist at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the Italian National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR). His work focuses on studying the distribution, transport and composition of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, with emphasis on harmonizing sampling and monitoring methods. He has authored over 50 scientific publications and participated in more than 35 oceanographic expeditions across the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Arctic and Antarctic. An active editor, reviewer and science communicator, he contributes to international plastic pollution networks and serves on the Steering Committee of the Integrated Marine Debris Observing System (IMDOS).
Stefano Aliani is Science Director at the Lerici section of the Institute of Marine Science of the National Research Council of Italy. He leads the Plastic Pollution Laboratory and has served as principal investigator and coordinator of national and international research projects, as well as chief scientist on multiple oceanographic cruises, including polar expeditions. His research integrates physical oceanography and ecology, focusing on how oceanographic processes shape marine ecosystems. Since the 1990s, he has investigated the distribution of marine debris and the dispersal through ocean currents. He is also actively engaged in science‑policy activities, among them the Plastic Treaty, and serves on several international working groups and expert panels. Stefano Aliani has also served as Vice President of SCOR and ISC expert for plastic pollution.
Dr. Amy Lusher is a Senior Research Scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and a marine biologist specialising in litter and microplastic pollution. She has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, including influential studies on the assessment and monitoring of microplastics, and has been recognised as a Highly Cited Researcher in Environment and Ecology and Cross-Field research for the past five years. Her research focuses on the development and harmonisation of methods to improve the quality and comparability of microplastic data across environmental matrices. She contributes to several international expert groups and initiatives, including OSPAR, AMAP, and ICES, and previously served on GESAMP Working Group 40 on Microplastics in the Marine Environment. Through her research and international collaborations, she supports coordinated approaches to monitoring, assessment, and management of plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems.
Dr. Konstantinos Topouzelis is an Associate Professor at the University of the Aegean, Greece, and leads the Marine Remote Sensing Group. With more than 20 years of experience in remote sensing and marine environmental monitoring, his research focuses on the use of satellite, aerial, and drone imagery for monitoring marine and coastal environments, with a particular emphasis on marine litter detection, mapping, and assessment. He develops innovative Earth observation and artificial intelligence methodologies to support harmonized and scalable marine debris monitoring.
Konstantinos is actively involved in several international initiatives on marine litter and ocean observation, including the International Ocean-Color Coordinating Group (IOCCG), GEO Blue Planet, and the Smart Marine Litter Remote Sensing Technologies (SmartMLRST) expert group of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. He also co-founded SciDrones, a university spin-off that develops operational solutions for environmental monitoring. Within IMDOS, he serves as a Steering Committee member and Co-chair of the Beach Litter Task Team, contributing to the advancement of coordinated global observing systems for marine debris.
Prof. Atsuhiko Isobe is a professor of the Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University. After graduating Ehime University, He had worked at the National Fisheries University as a research associate, Kyushu University as an associate professor, Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University as a professor, and is currently working in Kyushu University. He is now working as the principal investigator of multiple marine plastic research projects (including Atlas of Ocean Microplastics, AOMI database) sponsored by the Japanese government. He was awarded the Environment Minister’s prize in 2018, the Prime Minister’s prize in 2019, the Prize for Science and Technology from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2020, and Japan Oceanographic Society prize in 2025 for his marine plastic pollution research
Ryota Nakajima is a biological oceanographer with interests in the fate and impacts of plastic debris in deep-sea environments. He conducts extensive surveys of the seafloor litter across Japan using deep-sea exploration vehicles such as Shinkai 6500.
Dr Cherie Motti is a Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and an internationally recognised expert in microplastics research. Her work focuses on understanding the distribution, fate, and ecological impacts of microplastics in marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs and food webs. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications on microplastics and has led the development of widely adopted sampling and analytical protocols, advancing global monitoring and risk assessment efforts. Through leadership roles in major national and international initiatives, including IMOS and IMDOS, Dr Motti helps shape research, monitoring, and policy responses to marine plastic pollution.
María Belén Alfonso is an Associate Professor specializing in plastic pollution, with a focus on microplastics in freshwater and marine systems. She leads the Field-Driven Research Unit at the Center for Ocean Plastic Studies, Kyushu University, and serves as a member of the AOMI Secretariat. She has led and contributed to international research initiatives advancing harmonized methodologies and large-scale monitoring of microplastics. Her work integrates environmental chemistry and ecology to elucidate the sources, distribution, and ecological impacts of plastic pollution, including pioneering studies on microplastic ingestion by plankton and its implications for trophic transfer. She is actively engaged in capacity building and science–policy processes, contributing to global efforts to improve data comparability and inform evidence-based policy on plastic pollution.
Dr. Alex Turra is Professor at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IOUSP) and head of the UNESCO Chair on Ocean Sustainability, based at the Oceanographic Institute and the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo. Dr. Turra is a biologist with PhD in Ecology from the State University of Campinas. He was awarded the Kirby Laing Fellowship at the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, United Kingdom, and the Merit Medal of Tamandaré from the Brazilian Navy. He works in interdisciplinary and integrated research, focusing on marine biodiversity, governance, integrated management, marine conservation and environmental impact, climate change and marine pollution (marine litter). Turra seeks to promote the integration between science and society, considering both formal and non-formal education as well as capacity building and production of teaching supporting materials. Turra’s work also seeks to establish a dialogue with the private sector for technological development and innovation applied to the ocean.
Shungu Garaba is a hyperspectral remote sensing researcher specializing on all floating matter, water quality monitoring and oean colour related field campaigns including Fiducial Reference Measurements. His recent focus has been on experimental and scientific evidence-based approaches to explore remote sensing of floating and submerged plastic litter in all aquatic environments supported by citizen science, capacity building, sophisticated ocean models and machine learning approaches. As a keen remote sensing scientist on the topic along with peers from academia, industry, non-governmental, member state and international agencies they founded the IOCCG Task Force on Remote Sensing of Marine Litter and Debris and served as the Scientific Chair (2021-2024). He has experience at international and high level policy related contributions through scientific evidence-based research funded by UNEP to establish remote sensing based sub-indicators for SDG 14 as well as capacity building including sustainable solutions for leakage waste monitoring supported by The World Bank Group.
IOCCG Task Force on Remote Sensing of Marine Litter and Debris
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Kirsten Gilardi is a wildlife veterinarian and January 2026 retiree from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, where she led the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center. Since 2006 Gilardi has directed the California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, and since 2019 she has been a member of the Joint Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP), where she serves as GESAMP Vice-Chair and Chair of Working Group 43 on Sea-based Sources of Ocean Litter. Gilardi also serves on the Expert Advisory Council for the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.
Mafalda de Freitas is a researcher at the Center for Marine Debris Research at Hawaiʻi Pacific University, where her work focuses on the sources, pathways, and distribution of marine debris in the Pacific, with a particular emphasis on Abandoned, Lost, or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) in Hawaiʻi and the broader North Pacific region. She contributes to international coordination efforts and is a member of the PICES Section for Marine Plastic Pollution. Mafalda joined the IMDOS Steering Committee as an Early Career Ocean Professional representative, working to ensure the inclusive participation of early career scientists in shaping the observing system.