Scientific and Technical Committee

Professor of Biology at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis currently on availability, Mr. Denis Allemand has been Scientific Director of the Monaco Scientific Centre (CSM) since 2001. His main field of research concerns the comparative physiology of marine organisms, and more particularly the physiology of corals. In this capacity, he has co-authored more than 160 scientific articles and numerous book chapters.

Involved in the Monegasque Association for the Protection of Nature (AMPN), he is also interested in the management of marine protected areas and the cultivation of precious coral in situ. He is also a member of the following institutions: Scientific Council of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) (France), the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER) (France), the Board of Directors of the Institut de la Mer of Villefranche-sur-Mer (France). He is a member of Academia Europea, the European Academy of Humanities, Letters and Sciences. In recognition for his commitment and the work accomplished, he was made a Knight of the Order of Saint Charles, a Knight of the Order of Grimaldi, a Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit, a Knight of the French Order of Maritime Merit and an Officer of the Order of Academic Palms (which rewards the staff of the French National Education).

Graduated of the École Normale in Earth Sciences, with an aggregation in biology and geology, a DEA in ocean physics and a thesis on the carbon cycle, Mr. Laurent Bopp is a CNRS Research Director at the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute. He is also Associate Professor at the École Normale Supérieure de Paris. He heads the Geosciences Department of the École Normale.

As a modeler, he works on the carbon cycle in the ocean on several time scales. He is also interested in ocean acidification and deoxygenation, as well as the impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems. He has authored and co-authored more than 190 scientific publications in international journals, has been recognized as a "Highly Cited Researcher" since 2015, and was awarded the Ifremer Prize for Marine Sciences by the French Academy of Sciences in 2019. He participated in the drafting of the chapter "Carbon cycle and other biogeochemical compounds" of the 5th IPCC report. He is a Member of the scientific committee of the Ocean Climate Platform.

An OECD and UNEP expert, Mr. Lucien Chabason is a Member of the Scientific Boards of the French Facility for Global Environment. He was Coordinator of the United Nations Mediterranean Action Plan (based in Athens) from 1994 to 2003. He headed the office of the French Minister of the Environment, Brice Lalonde, and prepared the National Environment Plan from 1988 to 1992. He was Adviser to the Prime Minister on environmental issues from 1976 to 1978, responsible for spatial planning, sites and landscapes at the Ministry of the Environment and Living Environment (1978-1984), then Director of the Research Department at the Ministry of the Environment (1984-1988). He chaired the Blue Plan and the Association du Domaine du Rayol that he founded. In addition, he joined the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in 2005 as Senior Advisor. He is a teacher at Sciences Po Paris.

Mrs. Milagros Couchoud worked until 2003 at the Centre for Public Works Studies and Experimentation (CEDEX) in various positions, including Director of the Centre for Applied Technical Studies. She set up the Environmental Engineering Section. In 2003, she was appointed Director General of Meteorology and Representative of Spain at the World Meteorological Organization (W.M.O.). In 2005, she became Secretary General of CIEMAT (Spanish Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research), a position she held until her retirement as a government official.

She is a member of various national and international councils as well as scientific and technical committees: Member of the Executive Committee of the W.M.O, Member of the Board of Directors of the World Interchange Network, Representative of Spain in PIARC Committee C-3, Member of the Steering Committee of the OECD DIIC Programme, Member of APOA (OECD Advisory Panel for activities with developing countries), Member of the EMWIS (Euro-Mediterranean Water Information System) Management Board and Head of theSpanish Focal Point, Advisor to TECNOAMBIENTE and Member of the Board of Governors at the World Water Council. In 2003, Mrs. Milagros Couchoud received the Spanish Order of Civil Merit (Medalla al merito civil) awarded by the State. In 2017 she was made a Knight of the Order of Saint Charles of Monaco, and in 2019 she received the Medal del Milenario del Tribunal de las Aguas de Valencia. She is currently Honorary President of the Mediterranean Water Institute (IME).

Raphaël Cuvelier is Vice-President of the Ocean and Climate Platform, one of the most important international civil society networks that aims to promote the major role of the ocean in the fight against climate change. He is in charge of advocacy and international action, and chairs the SEA'TIES initiative, which promotes the solutions developed by coastal cities and their territories in the face of rising sea levels.

Until recently, he was Director of Programs for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. After having participated in the creation of the Foundation as a consultant, he developed several projects related to the ocean and polar regions. In particular, he played an important role in the proposal to the IPCC to produce a Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere. He piloted the launching phase of the Med Fund, dedicated to the financing of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.

Prior to that, he was an associate director of Juhliet INSEP Consulting, a leading management consulting firm, whose clients included major industrial groups such as Michelin, Pechiney, EDF, Bosch, PSA, Chanel and Sanofi.

An agricultural engineer, specialized in phytosociology and tropical ecology, he worked on research programs on pastoralism in the Pyrenees, then in Niger with Fulani and Tuareg nomads. An elected member of the Jura Chamber of Agriculture, he was one of the precursors of the development of organic agriculture in France.

Marine biologist (Ph. D. & D. Sc.) and experienced diver, Jean Jaubert practiced all forms of SCUBA diving (open circuit, closed circuit and saturation). In 1979, he invented the process of ecological water purification known as MICROCEAN® and JAUBERT NNR SYSTEM, which enabled him to become one of the first scientists capable of raising reef-building corals in closed-circuit aquariums. In 1989, he designed and set up, in the Monaco’s oceanographic museum, a large aquarium stocked with coral cuttings.

Years after years, these cutting built a life-size coral patch, still shriving today: a world record, which demonstrates that it is possible to ensure the long-term conservation of corals out of their natural environment. In 1991, the Council of Europe and the Principality of Monaco commissioned Jean Jaubert, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Nice, to set up the European Oceanological Observatory within the Monaco Scientific Center. The purpose of this research center was to exploit the extreme sensitivity of corals to turn them into models able to reveal early the nature and extent of risks associated with global environmental changes. In 2002, he left the University of Nice and the European Oceanological Observatory to become Chief Scientist andExpedition Leader of the Cousteau Society. In June 2004, he came back to Monaco as Director General of the Oceanographic Museum. Among the events that crowned Jean Jaubert's career were his promotion to the rank of Chevalier in the Order of the Legion of Honor (on the proposal of the Minister of Research, France), his appointment as a Knight in the Order of Saint Charles (Principality of Monaco) and a biography published by the magazine Science.

2016 - Fondation MAVA pour la Nature Director, West Africa programme & Head, Regional office
2014– 2015 : Fondation MAVA pour la Nature
2007 - 2014 : Fondation Internationale du Banc d’Arguin FIBA Regional Programme Coordinator for Marine Protected Areas
2008 -2011: Regional Program for marine and coastal Conservation in West Africa (PRCM) Phase 2 - Conservation Component facilitator
2004 - 2007 : Fondation Internationale du Banc d’Arguin (FIBA) - Regional Project Coordinator - Support project for MPAs establishment and strengthening
1998 - 2004 : Independent Consultant – Training, Facilitation, Project evaluation
1992 - 1999 : NGO "Tiniguena" (Guinea-Bissau) - Program Coordinator / Support to Grassroots and local Initiatives

Mr. David Munro is currently a Consultant geographer advising the publishers of the internationally renowned Times Atlas of the World and the Duke of Buccleuch for whom he is writer-in-residence with a focus on landscape and heritage on the Duke’s estates in southern Scotland. Compiler of the Oxford Dictionary of the World, he has also been an advisor to numerous educational publishers including Longman, Hutchinson, Discovery Channel and Walt

Disney. For 10 years he was Chairman of a committee providing geographical advice and support to the UK Government and the United Nations. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, with an Honours Degree in Ecological Science and a Doctorate in Historical Geography, he launched his professional career with Matthew Wrightson Land Ltd, helping establish a land use capability survey unit that was the first of its kind in the private sector to adopt an integrative approach to land management. Subsequently appointed a Research Fellow at Edinburgh University, he worked with colleagues pioneeringthe new computer-driven geographic information science which he applied both to geographical reference publishing and the initiation of a conservation programme in post-independence Belize, Central America. Appointed Director of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, he played a leading role in organising the 30th International Geographical Congress held in Glasgow in 2004 and co-ordinated a two-year programme celebrating the achievements of the Scottish polar explorer William Speirs Bruce, leader of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902- 04). The latter included rolling out a nationwide education programme focusing on Antarctica and a research expedition to South Georgia exploring aspects of environment and climate change.

Dr. Olav Orheim is a glaciologist and climatologist who has led more than 20 scientific expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. He worked for 40 years at the Norwegian Polar Institute, including 12 years as Managing Director. At the same time, he was professor of glaciology at the University of Bergen. He set up the Troll Station in Antarctica (Norway's permanent research station). He is also the founder of the Norwegian Glacier Museum in Fjærland and the Polaria Centre in Tromsø.

He has been a member of the Executive Boards of most of the organisations devoted to the study and protection of the poles, including the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). For many years, he was Vice-President of the International Glaciological Society (IGC) and Chairman of the Working Group on Glaciology of SCAR. He is currently a member of several international boards and committees. He is also President of the Fram Museum. In 2007 he was made a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav.

Bertrand Piccard is the founder and visionary behind Solar Impulse, the first fuel-free aircraft with perpetual autonomy.It is in his genes to go beyond preconceived ideas to achieve the impossible. Coming from a legendary lineage of explorers and scientists who conquered the heights and depths of our planet, he made history with two aeronautical firsts: a non-stop round-the-world balloon flight and a round-the-world flight in a solar airplane. If the abyss and the stratosphere attracted his father and grandfather,

Mr. Piccard fascinated by the great challenges of our time. Both a doctor and an explorer, he has become an opinion leader on the themes of progress and sustainable development as well as a world-renowned speaker. Putting his pioneering spirit at the service of renewable energies and clean technologies, he is committed to selecting and labeling 1,000 profitable solutions to protect the environment. In a third world trip, he wishes to present them to decision-makers in order to encourage them to adopt more ambitious environmental and energy policies.

Mr. Guillaume Sainteny is Chairman of GS Conseil and teaches sustainable development at AgroParisTech after having taught at Sciences-Po Paris and then at Ecole Polytechnique. He sits on the National Biodiversity Council (CNB), on the Expert Committee of the French Committee for the Environment and Sustainable Development (Comité 21), on the Orientation Council of La Fabrique Écologique, on the Orientation Council of the Federation of Regional Natural Parks, and on the Scientific Council of the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB).

He is a member of the French Academy of Agriculture. Previously, he held several positions within the French Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy and Transport, including Deputy Director of the Minister's Office and then Director of Economic Affairs for this Ministry. He has also served as a Director of several public institutions : Agence de Financement des Infrastructures de Transport de France, Institut National de l'environnement et des risques industriels, Institut de radioprotection et de sureté nucléaire, Parc national de Port-Cros. He represented France on the Board of Directors of the European Environment Agency. He has also published several books on environmental issues

Since April 2020, Sandrine Sommer has joined Moët Hennessy as Chief Sustainability Officer. She is in charge of managing the sustainability strategy for the 25 Maisons of Wine & Spirits and implement CSR initiatives in all markets. She is supported by experts working in the different Maisons for a long time to manage the multiple dimensions of Sustainable Development. With this team she coordinates all the initiatives to regenerate soils in all terroirs, to mitigate climate change all over the value chain, to support communities and to empower teams.

Before that, she has been working for 13 years as Chief Sustainability Officer at Guerlain where she created and implemented a game changing Corporate Social & Environmental strategy.

Sandrine Sommer is very proud to belong to a committed group, active in the development of social and environmental dimensions, without compromising quality and luxury.

In France and internationally, she has participated to numerous forums and events on sustainability. For more than 8 years, she has been a member of the Jury of the Luxury Price Pack In Green.

Sandrine Sommer has an engineer degree in Packaging and started her career in the Packaging Development department at Mars, before joining LVMH Group in 1999. Within this group, she held several positions of Head of Packaging at Moët & Chandon, Make Up For Ever and Guerlain, that she joined in 2005. In 2007, she created and became Head of the Sustainable Development department at Guerlain and in 2020 she became Chief Sustainability Officer at Moet Hennessy.

Professor Michael Meredith is an oceanographer and Science Leader at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, UK, and Professorial Fellow in ceanography at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. He is head of the Polar Oceans team at BAS, which has research foci on determining the role of the polar oceans on global climate, the ice sheets, and the interdisciplinary ocean system. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a NERC Individual Merit Promotion (Band 2) scientist. He has published more than 200 papers in international journals, and was the inaugural chair of the Southern Ocean Observing System. He has participated in 16 expeditions to the polar regions, serving as Chief Scientist on 5 of them. He was recently Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. In 2018, Michael was awarded the Tinker-Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica, in recognition of his contributions to the study of the Southern Ocean and its global impacts, and the Challenger Medal, for exceptional contributions to Marine Science. In 2020, he was awarded the Polar Medal by HM Queen Elizabeth II. In 2021, Michael was elected to serve as President of the Challenger Society for Marine Science, the UK’s pre-eminent learned body for research of the ocean.