Vyacheslav (Slava) Lobanov

Dr. Vyacheslav (Slava) Lobanov is a former Director of V.I.Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI), Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, the leading Russian marine institute for Pacific studies. Dr. Lobanov is a world-renowned oceanographer who has spent a productive career advancing our understanding of the North Pacific and its Marginal Seas and promoting international collaboration in marine science.

Dr. Lobanov has graduated from Leningrad State University in the USSR. He is a sea-going oceanographer. He participated in and organized many both Russian and international oceanographic expeditions. He developed a strong interest, and expertise, in mesoscale features such as Kuroshio warm-core rings and mesoscale eddies in the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka, the Okhotsk and Japan seas, in water mass transformation and water circulation dynamics in the Japan Sea including first observations of cascading, deep convection, upwelling and ventilation of Peter the Great Bay. 

After his retirement from director’s position Dr. Lobanov continues to work as a research scientists and head of physical oceanography laboratory of POI. He has shared his expertise as a mentor to young scientists throughout the Pacific Rim. He organized the 'Pacific Floating University’ training course to give students at-sea experiences.

Dr. Lobanov has exemplified the promotion of international collaboration in the marine sciences. He was an active member and initiator of major research programs in the region such as CREAMS, CREAMS-II, NEAR-GOOS Climate Monitoring Project and others. He served as a chairperson or national delegate of many international organizations and projects such as IOC/WESTPAC, PICES, PACON, PEACE, and others.

Dr. Lobanov has received the Award for developing international cooperation from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in 2012 and Wooster Award from PICES in 2018, as well the Governor of Primorye Region Award in 2023 and Russian Academy of Sciences Award in 2024 for regional marine science research and application. 

Hiroyasu Hasumi

Professor, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo

Hiroyasu Hasumi is Professor at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo. He studies the climate and its change, primarily from the viewpoint of physical oceanography. He develops and applies numerical models of the ocean, specializing in global scale oceanic deep circulation and associated polar ocean processes. He has also engaged in future projections of the climate since the IPCC 4th Assessment Report and has investigated possible changes in the ocean and the climate over the Pacific region. In recent years, he has been leading research teams in national research projects focusing on climate change on the Arctic environment. He has also been conducting precise simulations of the seas around Japan and intends to apply these findings to explore how the oceanic environment is influenced by land-based human activities through riverine discharges of dissolved and suspended matter.