On 30 October 2013, Dr. Wendy Watson-Wright, UNESCO Assistant Director General and Executive Secretary of UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO), visited the IOC Regional Training and Research Center on Ocean Dynamics and Climate (IOC ODC Center) and its hosting institute -First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration of China in Qingdao, China.

“The great contribution of China to IOC’s core mandate of capacity development in marine science is commendable and the valuable experience of running the Center shall be shared with other regions”, said the Executive Secretary.

While commending China for its longstanding commitment to cooperation with IOC, Dr. Watson-Wright expressed her gratitude to FIO and the IOC ODC Center for their great efforts in building and enhancing the capacity of other developing countries for marine science, observations with a view to assisting in the improvement of management, and sustainable development of their ocean and resources.

Dr. Fangli Qiao, Director of the IOC ODC Center briefed the Executive Secretary on the three international training sessions have been conducted on ocean models, ocean dynamics and air-sea interaction, respectively, since the inauguration of this IOC Regional Center in 2011, with the participation of 169 selected young scientists from 26 countries, mainly in Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean.

“I believe the IOC ODC Center could and has been serving as an excellent regional platform for young scientists to advance their scientific skills in modeling and to catalyze cooperation in ocean climate studies”, the Director said.

During the visit, the IOC Executive Secretary also met Dr. Deyi Ma, Director General of FIO, and was briefed on FIO’s scientific focus, and its engagement in various international programmes.

The IOC Regional Training and Research Center on Ocean Dynamics and Climate was established, under the framework of IOC Regional Network of Training and Research Centers on Marine Science, through an agreement between IOC and FIO at the 8th Intergovernmental Session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC), 10-13 May 2010 in Bali, Indonesia. The Center is committed to providing annual training sessions on a voluntary basis on ocean dynamics, air-sea interaction, and numerical modeling, to young scientists from developing member states in the Western Pacific and its adjacent regions.