GEBCO's committees and working groups

GEBCO's work is directed by a Guiding Committee and supported by technical, mapping and outreach sub-committees plus ad hoc working groups.

A complete A to Z listing of GEBCO contacts is available.

Joint IOC-IHO Guiding Committee for GEBCO
Technical Sub-Committee on Ocean Mapping
Sub-Committee on Regional Undersea Mapping
Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names
Sub-Committee on Communications, Outreach and Public Engagement (SCOPE)
Sub-Committee on Education and Training (SCET)
Cook Book Working Group
NIPPON Foundation/GEBCO Training Project Scholars
Representatives of the IOC & IHO Secretariats

Joint IOC-IHO Guiding Committee for GEBCO

The Guiding Committee oversees the work of the GEBCO sub-committees and working groups. It consists of five appointees from each of GEBCO's parent organisations, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

Access the Guiding Committee's Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure from the IHO's web site.

Access the GEBCO Strategy 2024 - 2030 to find out more about GEBCO's vision and mission.

gebco_strategydocument_2024_2030.pdf (11 MB)

A list of Guiding Committee Members is given below.

IHO appointed members

Evert Flier (Chair), Norwegian Mapping Authority, Norway
Geoffroy Lamarche, New Zealand
Yerinelys Santos Barrera, Colombia
David Millar, Fugro, USA
Hiroaki Saito, Japan

IOC appointed members

Khaira Ismail, Malaysia
Nana Poku, Ghana
Paul M Bret, Canada
Pip Bricher, Australia
Syed Waseem Haider, Pakistan

Ex-officio members

George Spoelstra (Chair of TSCOM)
Aileen Bohan (Chair of SCRUM)
Chair of SCOPE
Jennifer Jencks (Director, IHO Data Center for Digital Bathymetry)
Yasuhiko Ohara (Chair of SCUFN)
Aspasia Pastra (Chair of SCET)

Secretary: Mr Sam Harper, Permanent Secretary, GEBCO

Technical Sub-Committee on Ocean Mapping (TSCOM)

A list of the sub-committee members is given below.

Access TSCOM's Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure from the IHO's web site.

Mr George Spoelstra (Chair of TSCOM), GGS Geo Consultancy BV (GGSgc), The Netherlands
Ms Federica Foglini (Vice-Chair of TSCOM), ISMAR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
Ms Aileen Bohan, INFOMAR, Ireland
Dr Wetherbee Dorshow, Earth Analytic, Inc, USA
Dr Vicki Ferrini, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA
Mr Leonardo Gomes de Araujo, Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegação (DHN), Brazil
Mr Arne Johan Hestnes, Kongsberg Maritime, Sensors & Robotics, Norway
Ms Erin Heffron, Independent Contractor, Ocean Mapping Services LLC., USA
Mr Paul Johnson, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM), University of New Hampshire, USA
Mr Timothy Kearns, Chief Information Officer, Great Lakes Observing System, USA
Mr Boele Kuipers, Norway
Mr Francisco Navidad, NCMI, CSIRO, Australia
Dr Thierry Schmitt, Service Hydrographique et Oceanographique de la Marine (SHOM), France
Dr Helen Snaith, British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), UK
Ms Heather Stafford, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, USA
Ms Pauline Weatherall, British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), UK
Mr Mark Zimmermann, USA
Dr Eunmi Chang (non-voting member), CEO/adjunct professor Ziinconsulting INC. University of Seoul, Republic of Korea
Prof Martin Jakobsson (non-voting member), Department of Geological Sciences, University of Stockholm, Sweden
Ms Jennifer Jencks (non-voting member), Director IHO Data Center for Digital Bathymetry, National Centers for Environmental Information, USA

Sub-Committee on Regional Undersea Mapping

SCRUM's aim is to build a closer collaboration with regional mapping efforts and coordinate, as well as encourage, the incorporation of their compilations into GEBCO. A list of the sub-committee members is given below.

Access SCRUM's Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure from the IHO's web site.

Ms Aileen Bohan (Chair of SCRUM), INFOMAR, Geological Survey of Ireland, Ireland
Cdr Hugo Montoro (Vice-Chair SCRUM) Direccion de Hidrografía y Navegacion de la Marina de Guerra del Peru, Peru
Mr David Armstrong, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, USA
Dr Robin Beaman, James Cook University, Australia
Dr Boris Dorschel, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany
Ms Miao Fan, National Marine Data and Information Service, China
Mr Andrew Forbes, Canadian Hydrographic Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canada
Ms Rebecca Formanek, Hydrographic surveyor
Dr John K Hall, Geological Survey of Israel (retired), Israel
Ms Ana Carolina Lavagnino, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil
Mrs Tinah Martin, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA
Ms Kim Picard, Geoscience Australia, Australia
Ms Jaya Roperez,
Ms Shereen Sharma, Fugro, Australia
Ms Pauline Weatherall, British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), UK
Dr Rochelle Wigley, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, USA
Dr Yulia Zarayskaya
Mr Mark Zimmermann, USA
Dr Marzia Rovere (Non-voting member), ISMAR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy

Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names

SCUFN maintains and makes available the IHO-IOC GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names.

Access SCUFN's Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure from the IHO's web site.

A list of some of the representatives of SCUFN is given below. A full list is included on the SCUFN pages hosted at the IHO.

Dr Yasuhiko Ohara (Chair of SCUFN)
Mr Eric Langlois (Secretary)
Ms Jennifer Jencks (Point of contact GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names)

Sub-Committee on Communications, Outreach and Public Engagement (SCOPE)

Please note: The SCOPE Sub-Committee is currently not active

Sub-Committee on Education and Training (SCET)

Prof Aspasia Pastra The World Maritime University
Dr Rochelle Wigley (Co-Vice Chair of SCET) Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, USA
Manaf Zora (Co-Vice Chair of SCET), G2 Surveys, Canada
Dr Jyotika Virmani, Executive Director of Schmidt Ocean Institute, USA
Dr Sam Davidson, Earth Sciences New Zealand, New Zealand
Louis Demargne, Fugro, The Netherlands
Jean Aude, Alcatel Sumbarine Networks, France
Dr R. Venkatesan, India
Gordon Johnston, Venture Geomatics, UK

Cook Book Working Group

This working group is developing a technical reference book on how to create bathymetric grids. Find out more and how to access the GEBCO Cook Book.

A list of committee members is given below.

Chair position currently vacant

Dr Rochelle Wigley Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, USA
Dr Helen Snaith British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), UK
Mr Leonardo Gomes de Araujo Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegação (DHN), Brazil
Ms Jaya Roperez
Dr Thierry Schmitt Service Hydrographique et Oceanographique de la Marine (SHOM), France
Ms Pauline Weatherall British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), UK

NIPPON Foundation/GEBCO Training Project Scholars

GEBCO has been funded by the Nippon Foundation, based in Tokyo, Japan, to train a new generation of scientists and hydrographers in ocean bathymetry. The twelve-month course, leading to a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetry (PCOB), is held at the University of New Hampshire, USA.

A list of scholars from the course is maintained on the web site of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM) at the University of New Hampshire. Use the links below to access the list.

Representatives of the IOC & IHO Secretariats

A list of the representatives is given below.

Mr Julian Barbière Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
Mr Luigi Sinapi International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
Mr Sam Harper International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)