Malcolm R. Clark, PhD: On the Global Seamounts Project (Video)

Malcolm R. Clark, PhD, led the Census of Marine Life on Seamounts, a major 6-year international research program; and has participated in over 70 research expeditions, including submersible dives, and work in Antarctica and the southwest Pacific. 

Dr. Clark currently leads research projects at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Wellington, New Zealand focused on describing the biodiversity of deep-sea habitats and assessing ecological risk to these habitats and communities from fishing and mining activities. He is the Science Co-Chair of the Global Seamounts Project.

This video incorporates a 2019 interview by Jim Costopulos, Global Oceans' CEO, conducted with Malcolm during a workshop of the InterRidge Working Group on Seamounts and Islands hosted by the Instituto Hidrográfico in Lisbon, Portugal. This InterRidge Working Group is focused on the geological, oceanographic, and biological aspects of seamounts and islands located near mid-ocean ridges.

Dr. Clark's presentation on the GSP's science plan at the workshop led to an agreement to colaborate with InterRidge as a contributing GSP project partner. Neil Mitchell, PhD, one of the workshop's conveners from the University of Manchester in the UK, noted: 

"The roles of seamounts during cycling of material and energy in the framework of plate tectonics are still largely unknown due to a lack of data and samples.  However, the pathways of material and energy through seamounts and the surrounding crust are essential for the hydrosphere and biosphere. Information on them would link the research of the InterRidge working group to the Global Seamounts Project, a major initiative that aims to characterize and model the ecosystems of distant seamount habitats."