Based at Umeå University in Sweden, we are a dynamic environment for marine research, education and environmental monitoring. We have a public engagement portfolio around research and environmental status and have close links to the Departments of Ecology and Environmental Science as well as Chemistry within the University.
Our vision at UMF
Our vision is to be a leading contributor to Arctic, sub-Arctic and extreme environment knowledge creation.
Our mission at UMF
Our mission is for UMF science, communication and education activities to be highly valued internationally by scientists, government, industry and society for our leading contributions to the sustainable development of resilient, productive ecosystems.
Environmental Grand Challenges of relevance to UMF
Global warming is happening three times faster in the Arctic than in the rest of the world. This combined with significant freshwater influx to the marine environment,in part driven by increasing temperatures, will create an extreme environment for organismal and biogeochemical functions and services.
Climate change is also accompanied by extreme events, including marine heatwaves, which occur against a backdrop of rising temperatures. These provide an added stressor to marine ecosystems and biogeochemical processes. While some organisms and biologically driven cycles may acclimatise or adapt to gradual climate change, extreme climatic events provide a more severe challenge to those systems.
Warming is opening up the Arctic and sub-Arctic to increased use and exploitation by both industry and habitation. In the context of the extreme environment created by climate change, at present it is difficult to project how marine ecosystems and the services they provide will respond to these multiple stressors.
The sustainable use of marine resources is central to sustainable development. In a changing Arctic and sub-Arctic, sustainable development is likely to present challenges not present at lower latitudes due to the complex multiple stressor environment created by the backdrop of increased climatic and other anthropogenic stressors on marine systems.
Organisation
Umeå Marine Sciences Centre is a unit at Umeå University within the Faculty of Science and Technology. Our activities are governed by Umeå University and also our strategic mission and vision. Our Director is Professor Nick Kamenos and our Deputy Director Dr Siv Huseby
The UMF advisory council meets at least twice a year, and the director of UMF is the principal rapporteur of the council.
Composition of the council
Sebastian Diehl (Professor, Umeå University, Chair)
Piero Calosi (Professor, University of Quebec, International Representative)
Linda Zetterholm (PhD student Umeå University, student representative)
