GEM Webinar Series (3rd Event) Spotlighting Early Career Ocean Professionals

On May 21, 2026, the Global Estuaries Monitoring (GEM) Programme, in collaboration with the Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Programme and the Future Earth Coast (FEC), organized the 3rd webinar (ECOPs special session). This webinar featured two distinguished ECOP speakers and attracted over 55 attendees, sparking engaging discussions. Dr. Demilade T. Adedipe, a Postdoctoral Fellow with the GEM Programme, moderated the session, while Prof. Kenneth Leung, Director of the GEM Programme, delivered the opening remarks.

Dr. Shenghui Li, a lecturer and researcher at Guangdong Ocean University and an International Postdoctoral Fellow at IPB University, presented a talk titled "Breaking Language Barriers for the Ocean Decade: Ocean Literacy Across Languages as a Pathway to Inclusive Ocean Action.” She discussed the challenges posed by language barriers and shared the story and progress of the Ocean Literacy Across Languages (OLAL) Project under the ECOP Programme.

Dr. Xiaoyu Fang, Co-Executive Director of FEC, a global network of over 5,000 experts, delivered a presentation titled "Future Earth Coasts and the Ocean Decade: Building Knowledge for Sustainable Coastal Futures.” She introduced FEC as a global research network dedicated to supporting healthy coasts and oceans for a just and environmentally sustainable future, highlighting the global network and flagship initiatives of FEC.

This event brought together perspectives from diverse ocean communities, emphasizing the invaluable contributions of ECOPs to ocean sustainability and capacity development in alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 14 (Life below Water) and 17 (Partnership for the Goals).