All five peakers on the colloquia series 150 years of NIOZ.

NIOZ 150 Colloquium Series: Exploring the Future of Ocean Science

This year, the NIOZ is celebrating its 150th anniversary. As part of the celebrations, our Colloquium Committee organizes a special lectures series with internationally renowned speakers working at the forefront of marine science. From cutting-edge research infrastructure to biodiversity, restoration, climate tipping points, and microbial processes. This series offers fresh perspectives on the future of ocean research. The lectures aim to spark dialogue across disciplines, connect people and ideas, and strengthen the international scientific community around NIOZ. They are open to people of outside NIOZ as well.Β 

Stefan Rahmstorf (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research)

Stefan Rahmstorf is Professor of Physics of the Oceans at the University of Potsdam and a senior scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). His research focuses on ocean circulation, sea-level rise, and abrupt climate change, with particular attention to tipping elements in the Earth system such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Rahmstorf has contributed extensively to the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is widely recognized for communicating climate science to both the scientific community and the public.

About the talk

Atlantic ocean circulation: a dangerous tipping point for European climate?

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has a major impact on climate, not just around the northern Atlantic but globally. Paleoclimatic data show it has been rather unstable in last 100.000 years of Earth history, leading to some of the most dramatic and abrupt climate shifts known.

These instabilities are related to two different types of tipping points, linked to amplifying feedbacks in the mechanisms driving the flow.Β These tipping points present a major risk of abrupt ocean circulation and climate shifts as we push our planet further out of the stable Holocene climate into uncharted waters.

There is evidence that the AMOC has already weakened in response to global warming. The current generation of climate models predicts that the AMOC will further weaken substantially during this century, and suggests a major risk that the AMOC will shut down after the year 2100. The tipping point putting the AMOC on course to shutdown may already be passed in the next few decades. Also, substantial and abrupt impacts of AMOC change on our climate might arise already from the 2040s.

The talk will discuss the paleoclimatic evidence, the instability mechanisms, the evidence for an AMOC slowdown and how close we may be to a dangerous tipping point of existential importance to Europe.

Practical information

  • Date and time: 3 September 2026, 1 p.m.

  • 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞

    13:00–14:00 | Colloquium: Stefan Rahmstorf (PIK) – Weakening of Atlantic Ocean Circulation
    14:00–14:20 | Presentation: Femke de Jong (NIOZ) – North Atlantic circulation observations
    14:20–15:00 | Panel discussion and Q&A with Stefan Rahmstorf, Femke de Jong and Sjoerd Groeskamp
    15:00–16:45 | Networking and drinks

  • Location: NIOZ, Texel.
  • Open to people from outside NIOZ: yes, online and in-person, registration only.
  • Registration: sign up here
    .

Michelle L. Taylor, Ocean Census and University of Essex

Dr. Michelle Taylor is a marine geneticist, Head of Science at Ocean Census and Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on the ecology, connectivity, phylogenetics, and conservation of vulnerable marine habitats, with experience in shallow-water and deep cold-water corals, mangroves, and seagrass ecosystems. Using field expeditions, molecular tools, and ecological analyses, her work explores how species adapt to (extreme) environments, what drives biodiversity, and how human activities and climate change affect these ecosystems. The mission of Ocean Census is to accelerate the discovery of marine species and improve our understanding of ocean biodiversity. It is the largest global initiative to discover and document ocean life, using advanced technology, international collaboration, and open-access data sharing.

Practical information

Bess B. Ward (Princeton University)

Bess B. Ward is the William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University and a leading researcher in marine microbial biogeochemistry. Her work focuses on the microbial processes that drive the marine nitrogen cycle, including nitrification, denitrification, and anaerobic ammonium oxidation. By combining field observations with molecular and biogeochemical approaches, her research has helped reveal how microbial communities regulate nitrogen availability and influence marine ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles.

Practical information

Please note: External visitors are kindly asked to register in advance. The registration form can be used to attend one or more colloquia either online or in person.Β Practical information will be shared after registration.