Prof. dr. Erik van Sebille

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Areas of expertise

Skills

Research areas

"Whose plastic is that? I want to attribute the source of plastic items found in the ocean"

and

“What's the role of academics in science communication?”

Research focus: ocean circulation, marine plastic pollution, science communication and public engagement

Erik van Sebille divides his work in two main pillars – on the one hand, he is an oceanographer and climate scientist. Within his appointment in the Physics department (80%) his research focuses on how ocean currents transport heat, nutrients, marine organisms and plastic litter. He builds computer models to simulate the transport of this ‘stuff’ in the ocean. For the other 20%, he is affiliated with the Freudenthal Institute, where he leads research into the effectivity of Public Engagement activities and the role of academics in society, within the context of Open Science.

His two areas of interest are connected. In academic research, especially around topics such as climate change, academics should ask themselves how their research can make an impact through effectively engaging and informing publics outside academia. The ocean in particular, with all its mysteries and folklore, provides a unique opportunity to engage publics.

In 2023, Erik started the NWO Vici project "Tracing Marine Macroplastics by Unraveling the Ocean’s Multiscale Transport Processes". Previously, he led the "Tracking Of Plastic In Our Seas" (TOPIOS) project, funded by a 5-year (2017-2022) ERC Starting Grant. He is also lead developer of the OceanParcels code, an open-source framework to simulate how ocean currents transport 'stuff' around. Between 2019 and 2024, Erik was member of The Young Academy of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW). In 2024, he was appointed member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW).

Areas of interest: