InterRidge is a non-profit organisation that promotes international cooperation in research of oceanic spreading centres, including mid-ocean ridge and back-arc basin systems. It was launched in 1992, and in 2011 InterRidge has 6 principal, 3 associate, and 21 corresponding member nations and regions. InterRidge has more than 2500 individual member scientists in disciplines ranging from marine geology to chemistry, biology, and ocean engineering.
The InterRidge Office rotates every 3 years. During 2010-2012, InterRidge is being hosted by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, in the UK. InterRidge is governed by a steering committee consisting of delegates from the principal and associate member nations and regions.
Mission edit
As stated on the InterRidge website, "InterRidge promotes interdisciplinary, international studies of oceanic spreading centres by creating a global research community, planning and coordinating new science programmes that no single nation can achieve alone, exchanging scientific information, and sharing new technologies and facilities. InterRidge is dedicated to reaching out to the public, scientists and governments, and to providing a unified voice for ocean ridge researchers worldwide."
Four Main Functions edit
InterRidge has four main functions, which may be summarised as:
1) Building a community of ridge scientists
2) Identifying important scientific questions through working groups and workshops
3) Acting as a voice for ridge scientists
4) Education and outreach.
InterRidge serves as a "clearinghouse" for information on mid-ocean ridge research across the globe. InterRidge publishes an annual newsletter with preliminary results from field work, national and regional reports, and working group updates. InterRidge maintains 3 databases:
member database
research cruise database (past and upcoming cruises to the ridge crest)
database of active hydrothermal vent fields.
First Decade edit
InterRidge began at a meeting in France in 1990 that gathered ridge scientists from 10 nations and regions with reports submitted by Canada, France, Iceland, Japan, Portugal, USSR, UK, and USA. The rationale for this meeting developed from a recommendation at a previous U.S. RIDGE initiative workshop that an international initiative be pursued. Following the first InterRidge meeting, an "Interim Steering Group" was formed and the first programme plan was produced in 1992.
As stated on the InterRidge website, the first decade (1992-2003) of the organisation "produced a coordinated, international ridge community of member countries that had previously been working alone, and left a string of success stories in its wake. Two examples are the first-ever mapping and sampling of one of the slowest spreading and remote centres known to date, the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean, and the exploration and study of the Southwest Indian Ridge."
Second Decade edit
Two functions of InterRidge were developed more fully in the second decade (2004-2013) of the organisation:
1) The scientific working groups
2) Education and outreach
Scientific working groups are a key metric for success as to how InterRidge is delivering on its mission. These working groups are proposed by an international group of scientists, usually following a call for proposals issued by the InterRidge Office. Working groups in 2011 are Hydrothermal Energy and Ocean Carbon Cycles, Long-Range Exploration, Mantle Imaging, Seafloor Mineralisation, and Vent Ecology.
In 2008, InterRidge began offering fellowships for student research projects, and in 2009 InterRidge began a partnership with the International Seabed Authority Endowment Fund to expand the programme into the InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme.
In 2011, InterRidge began a "Cruise Travel Bursary" scheme to enable early-career scientists to participate in research cruises.
"Code of Conduct" edit
Starting in 2000 with a workshop on "Management and Conservation of Hydrothermal Vent Ecosystems," the InterRidge Biology Working Group developed a set of six guidelines which was published in 2006 as the “InterRidge Statement of Commitment to Responsible Research Practices at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents.”. By 2011, 180 people had signed to support this statement.
Interactions with other international scientific organisations edit
InterRidge is an affiliated program to SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research), has a liaison to IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program), and is in close communication with other organizations such as ChEss (Chemosynthetic Ecosystem science), a field project of the Census of Marine Life programme (CoML).
References edit
Oceanography Vol. 20, No. 1, March 2007, “Special Issue: InterRidge”
IMarEST Scientist, No. 23, 2008, "Keeping an eye on the deep-sea", p. 20-23
Science News Article by Janet Raloff, 7 Oct. 2006, “Venting Concerns: Exploring and protecting deep-sea communities”
IMarEST Marine Scientist, No. 8, 3Q, 2004, "InterRidge moves to northern Germany", p. 29