AtlantECO Final Scientific Conference
One Ocean, One Health
Microbiomes of the Atlantic Seascape

Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal 15-19 September 2025

About

  • The AtlantECO Final Conference

  • One Ocean, One Health

  • Microbiomes of the Atlantic Seascape

Important dates:
  • Abstract submission period: 1st March-30th April
  • Abstract review & decision period: 1-30 May
  • Registration: 1st March-30th June

Programme

The conference is organised around a handful of Themes that correspond to Ecosystem Services provided by Microbiomes and the Atlantic Seascape. 

The objective is that participants frame their science in the context of the five Themes described below.

Under each Theme, we invite contributions that present one or several of the following aspects:

  • Innovative methods, e.g. new monitoring technologies, monetary valuation of ecosystem services.
  • New digital knowledge,
e.g. knowledge from recent studies at regional, basin and global scales.
  • Multi-omics approaches,
e.g. integrating various data types such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and imaging.
  • Data analysis & modelling, e.g. complex systems approaches, network analysis, metabolic models, niche modelling.
  • Assessments & forecasts, e.g. indicators and their future projections at regional, basin and global scales

Theme 1. Climate regulation

Co-chairs: Dr. Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli (CNR), Dr. Marion Gehlen (IPSL/LSCE)

This session will address our understanding of natural and geoengineered mechanisms involved in climate-related services provided by Microbiomes and the Atlantic Seascape

The Atlantic Ocean plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate by exchanging heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) with the atmosphere. The mechanisms behind this ecosystem service are determined in large part by the Atlantic Seascape (spatio-temporal patterns of circulation and biogeographic connectivity) and by the Ocean Microbiome, which is responsible for the removal and storage of atmospheric carbon into the Ocean (i.e. the biological carbon pump). The impact of these mechanisms on global climate is affected by large scale modes of variability (e.g. El Niño–Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Variability) and extreme events (e.g. heat waves and storms). Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) and other geoengineered solutions are increasingly proposed to exploit this ecosystem service by manipulating the ocean to reduce C02 in the atmosphere. 

We welcome contributions that present innovative methods, new digital knowledge, multi-omics approaches, data analysis & modelling, and/or assessments & forecast results.

Theme 2. Food provision

Co-chairs: Dr. Simone Libralato (OGS), Dr. Ferenc Jordan (KNR), Dr Xabier Irigoien (AZTI), Dr. Neda Gilannejad (NORCE)

This session will address our understanding of natural and bioengineered mechanisms involved in food-related services provided by Microbiomes and the Atlantic Seascape

The Atlantic Ocean provides a vital source of protein for billions of people. The Ocean Microbiome is the foundation of marine food webs. It is responsible for primary production, supporting the production of fish and sustaining commercial fisheries and traditional fishing worldwide. The Ocean Microbiome also regulates the production of marine snow, organic particles that sink from the upper ocean, providing a crucial food source for mesopelagic fish that live at depths below the sunlit zone. These fish represent an underexplored food source, offering potential solutions for future food security as they could supplement traditional fisheries, especially as overfishing threatens surface fish populations. In aquaculture, ocean microbiomes are also indispensable for maintaining healthy environments. Microorganisms help regulate water quality by breaking down waste products, preventing disease outbreaks, and supporting the growth of farmed fish. Additionally, bioengineering microbiome-based solutions, such as introducing beneficial microbiomes into food or farming environments, can enhance aquaculture productivity and sustainability by promoting healthy, balanced environments, reducing reliance on antibiotics, and improving fish growth rates. 

We welcome contributions that present innovative methods, new digital knowledge, multi-omics approaches, data analysis & modelling, and/or assessments & forecast results. 

Theme 3. Health provision & regulation

Co-chairs: Dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler (NIOZ), Dr. Tonje Marita Bjerkan Heggeset (SINTEF)

This session will address our understanding of natural and bioengineered mechanisms involved in health-related services provided by Microbiomes and the Atlantic Seascape

The Atlantic Ocean is at the heart of the emerging blue economy, offering a wealth of genetic resources and biocompounds with immense potential for biotechnology. Through bioprospecting, the Ocean Microbiome provides novel enzymes, bioactive compounds, and pharmaceuticals. These compounds and the vast genetic potential of ocean microbes offer promising new avenues for medical treatments (e.g. antibiotics and anti-cancer agents), and industrial applications such as biocatalysis. The Ocean Microbiome als<o offers bioengineering solutions to pressing environmental challenges, such as plastic pollution. The study of the "plastisphere" – the microbial communities that thrive on plastic waste in the ocean – is helping scientists understand how certain microorganisms break down plastics. By harnessing these microbes, researchers aim to develop innovative bioremediation strategies to reduce plastic waste and its impact on marine ecosystems. Moreover, the Ocean Microbiome is an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance (AMR) genes, and understanding their role in AMR dynamics is essential for combating the global health threat posed by resistant pathogens. By studying how marine microbes interact with antibiotics and build up resistance, scientists can develop better approaches to manage AMR both in the oceans and in human health systems. 

We welcome contributions that present innovative methods, new digital knowledge, multi-omics approaches, data analysis & modelling, and/or assessments & forecast results.

Theme 4. Energy provision & biogeography regulation of deep sea ecosystems

Co-chairs: Dr. Erik van Sebille (Utrecht Univ.), Dr. Lionel Guidi (CNRS, Sorbonne Univ.)

This session will address our understanding of mechanisms involved in services provided to deep sea ecosystems by Microbiomes and the Atlantic Seascape

The Atlantic Ocean is home to diverse deep-sea ecosystems, including hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and abyssal plains. These unique habitats support specialized organisms, such as deep-sea fish, corals, and microbial communities, which rely on chemosynthesis at depth and organic matter from the surface. The Ocean Microbiome plays a crucial role in transferring matter and energy from the surface of the ocean to the deep sea, sustaining microbial life at the ocean floor and the productivity of seabed ecosystems. Moreover, the dispersion of larvae from deep-sea organisms is determined in large part by the Atlantic Seascape, which governs spatio-temporal patterns of circulation and biogeographic connectivity. Currents transport larvae across vast distances, allowing species to colonize suitable habitats and maintain genetic diversity. During their dispersal, deep sea larvae become part of, and interact directly with the Ocean Microbiome, which impacts their survival. Together, the interplay between the Ocean microbiome and the Atlantic Seascape not only ensures the transfer of matter and energy to the deep sea but also plays a pivotal role in shaping the diversity and distribution of life in seabed ecosystems. 

We welcome contributions that present innovative methods, new digital knowledge, multi-omics approaches, data analysis & modelling, and/or assessments & forecast results.

Theme 5. Biodiversity

Co-chairs: Dr. Emma Rocke (UCT), Dr. Hugo Sarmento (UFSCar), Dr. Swan Sow (Univ. Nantes)

This session will address our understanding of mechanisms involved in biodiversity-related services provided by Microbiomes and the Atlantic Seascape

Biodiversity is an ecosystem service that supports all other provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. The Ocean Microbiome harbors immense biodiversity, consisting of viruses (akaryotes), bacteria and archaea (prokaryotes), unicellular eukaryotes (protists) and small planktonic multicellular eukaryotes, including the larvae of larger marine organisms. These microorganisms play vital roles in nutrient cycling, energy transfer, and ecosystem functions. Their genetic diversity supports resilience to environmental changes, and the overall health of ocean ecosystems. Recent studies in biodiversity and seascape ecology are embracing holistic perspectives that integrate new technologies and data types to improve our understanding of ocean ecosystems. By combining imaging and omics data (such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and phenomics), researchers can unravel the complexity of marine life, their interactions, and their evolution. Holistic approaches range from systems ecology and complex systems theory that help model interactions between species and their environments to network-based methodologies that provide insights into ecological connectivity and community structure. Metabolic models and conceptual frameworks are also being used to map the flow of energy and nutrients across marine ecosystems, offering new perspectives on ecosystem functioning and resilience. Additionally, niche modeling is advancing our understanding of how marine organisms adapt to environmental changes and the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. By combining these diverse approaches, researchers can gain a more integrated and nuanced understanding of ocean ecosystems, allowing for better-informed conservation and management strategies. 

We welcome contributions that present innovative methods, new digital knowledge, multi-omics approaches, data analysis & modelling, and/or assessments & forecast results. 

Sessions & Events

General schedule

  • (am) morning session from 9:00 to 12h30
  • (pm) afternoon session from 14h00 to 17h30


Each session will consist in:

  • Eight short presentations - each 10 min + 5 min Q&A
  • Break - 30 min
  • Keynote presentation - 30 min

  • Mediated discussion - 30 min

Optional events (details to be announced):

  • Monday (evening) - Tapas & posters session
  • Tuesday (morning) - 5 km Morning run (7h-8h)
  • Wednesday (pm) - Excursion
  • Thursday (evening) - Public event in Portuguese

Multi-Omics Hackathon

Organised by AtlantECO in the Azores (8-12 September), back-to-back with the Conference 

The Hackathon will address simple, but challenging questions using a combination, or a comparison of environmental genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics (imaging) data from Mission Microbiomes AtlantECO. 

The Hackathon will consist of a series of online, self-paced learning modules about (1) the nature, potential and limitation of omics data, (2) accessing omics data programmatically, and (3) novel analysis approaches to combine and/or compare multi-omics data.   

Participants will meet in person for 5 days in the Azores (8-12 September) and are strongly encouraged to participate in, and present their results at the AtlantECO Final Scientific Conference.

Register here 

Programme (15-19 September)

Day One

  • (pm) Session 1 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (evening) Tapas & poster session

Day Two

  • (am) Session 2 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (pm) Session 3 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (evening) Conference dinner

Day Three

  • (am) Session 4 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (pm) Excusion
  • (evening) Free

Day Four

  • (am) Session 5 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (pm) Session 6 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (evening) Public event in Portuguese

Day Five

  • (am) Session 7 (Theme and selected presentations to be announced)
  • (pm) Plenary discussion on All Atlantic Cooperation

Scientific Committee

Daniele Iudicone Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Italy
Stéphane Pesant European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), United Kingdom 
Andre Abreu Fondation Tara Océan (FTO), France
Linda Amaral-ZettlerRoyal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Netherlands
Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli National Research Council (CNR), Italy
Marion Gehlen Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA), France
Tonje Heggeset SINTEF, Norway
Olivier Jaillon Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA), France
David Johns Marine Biological Association (MBA), United Kingdom
Ferenc Jordan Keynote Research Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag (KNR), Hungary
Carlos Lentini Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Brazil
Simone Libralato National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), Italy
Rubens Lopes Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil
Thulani Makhalanyane Stellenbosch University (SUN), South Africa
Ricardo Oliveira Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI), Portugal
Emma Rocke University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa
Francesca Santoro United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), France
Hugo Sarmento Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil
Erik van Sebille Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands
Marcello Vichi University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa
Sebastian Villasante Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain
Meike Vogt ETH Zürich, Switzerland


 

Organising Committee

Sara Pittonet Gaiarin, TRUST-IT Services
Diana Diana Marques, SPI
Stéphane Pesant, EMBL-EBI

Abstract submission

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Abstract submission period: 1st March-30th April
  • Abstract review & decision period: 1-31 May
  • Registration: 1st March-30th June

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must register to the conference in addition to submitting an abstract.

Log in to submit your abstract, or sign up if you haven't registered yet.

Registration

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Abstract submission period: 1st March-30th April
  • Abstract review & decision period: 1-31 May
  • Registration: 1st March-30th June

Log in to register for the conference, or sign up if you haven't registered yet.

Contact us

Please contact us if you have any question about the Conference or the Hackathon.

Logistics

Venue details

The AtlantECO Final Scientific Conference will be held at Teatro Micaelense in Ponta Delgada on the magnificent Island of São Miguel in the Azores, at the heart of the Atlantic Ocean. Teatro Micaelense successfully hosts national and international congresses of small and medium scale and the most diverse types of professional, cultural and social events.

See on Google Maps

How to get to Ponta Delgada

Direct flights are available from/to: Lisbon, Porto, Brussels, Dusseldorf, London, Toronto (Canada) and Boston (USA) Ponta Delgada Airport is 10 minutes away by taxi to Teatro Micaelense and the nearby hotels.

Hotels near Teatro Micaelense 
(Ponta Delgada)