Team


The CUMECS-2 team consists of the following scientists:


Aaron Micallef – University of Malta, Malta
(chief scientist)

Aaron is a marine geologist investigating submarine canyons and landslides in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. His work focuses on analysing geophysical and sedimentological data quantitatively to identify the fundamental geological processes responsible for their initiation and evolution. Aaron is also the leader of the Marie Curie funded SCARP project.







Timothy Le Bas – National Oceanography Centre, UK

Tim is an expert on sonar mapping. He has developed multibeam backscatter software to maximise the interpretational output from acoustic data.  Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter are essential data for a mapping study and should be able to quantify the extent of features on the seafloor and the processes that have formed them.  Work is continuing to automatically identify map features in an objective and thus quantifiable way, and therefore removing the requirement for any subjective interpretation. His research interests include habitat mapping, hydrothermal vents systems and mineral exploration, using both high and low frequency acoustics. He is co-ordinator and lecturer of courses in seafloor exploration and GIS.



Joshu Mountjoy - National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand


Joshu Mountjoy is a marine geologist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. He studies seafloor geomorphic processes using marine geophysical and geological data (multibeam bathymetry, 2D/3D multi-channel and high resolution seismic reflection data, sediment cores, rock samples). Research interests include the mechanisms of submarine canyon activity; submarine landslides processes, triggering mechanisms and hazards; gas hydrates and fluid flow in slope instability, and seafloor neo-tectonics. Joshu is passionate about making scientific information and new discoveries accessible to everyone.



Veerle Huvenne – National Oceanography Centre, UK


Veerle Huvenne is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (UK). Her work generally focuses on habitat mapping and sediment transport studies around cold-water coral reefs, submarine canyons and hydrothermal vents, and she loves working with underwater robotic systems (i.e. ROVs and AUVs). 









Claudio Lo Iacono – National Oceanography Centre, UK



Claudio’s interests include geomorphologic analysis and sedimentary evolution of continental margins (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, SE Iberian Margin, Gulf of Cadiz) based on acoustic data and high resolution seismic, habitat mapping, study of fauna/substrate relationships, and predictive models of benthic habitat distribution.







Matthew R. Agius – University of Malta, Malta


Matthew is a seismologist, currently working as a researcher at the Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit, University of Malta. His research focuses on the seismicity, tectonic structures and dynamics in the Sicily Channel, Central Mediterranean. His work includes maintaining and upgrading the Malta seismic network and the real-time earthquake monitoring system. Other research interests include the India-Asia convergence and the structure and dynamics beneath the Tibetan Plateau.









Antoniette Greta Grima – Malta


Antoniette Greta Grima is a geoscientist with a research interest in the origin and geodynamics of the Mediterranean Basin. Her latest research has focused on the Ionian Basin and the role of dynamic topography in the preservation of small, ancient and marginal basins. Her interests also include the tectonic features of the central Mediterranean such as the Malta Escarpment, its nature, origin and role in the major plate re-organisations of the Mediterranean.



Julie Auerbach – Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure, Malta

Franco Coren – Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Italy

Daniela Accettella – Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Italy

Isabella Tomini - Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Italy



The CUMECS-2 shore-based team includes:


Aggeliki Georgiopoulou - University College Dublin, Ireland.


Aggie uses diverse datasets, both geophysical and sedimentological, to determine what has shaped the present day seafloor and what this means for the future. Her work is related to deep-sea processes, which can affect coastal areas as well as seafloor installations such as telecommunication cables or hydrocarbon platforms. She maps the extent of deposits (slide or bottom current related), tries to understand how their timing relates to climate change as well as other major events in the area and human activity, and investigates the processes that take place during transport and deposition.