The progresses of scientific knowledge in the field of ocean forecasting and the application of scientific results in environmental and socio-economic sectors, the ability of attracting funds for scientific research, the unique vitality and dynamism to engage and involve young students in european and international research projects for advanced studies. Those are some of the motivations which drived the University of Liège to confer the degree Honoris Causa to Prof. Nadia Pinardi

“If you ask an oceanographer who more than anyone has contributed to inform the european landscape of ocean forecasting, he will probably answer Nadia Pinardi”. With these words the prestigious Belgian university opens its ceremony for the degree Honoris Causa to the Italian oceanographer while underlying her many contributions in the field of ocean currents forecasting and of high-resolution modelling.

Associate Professor of Physical Oceanography at University of Bologna, member of the Strategic Council of the CMCC Foundation where she established the Ocean-Lab, the laboratory for advanced research in the field of operational oceanography, Prof. Pinardi – who holds a PhD in Applied Physics (Physical Oceanography) from Harvard University, Cambridge, U.S.A. – has coordinated the development of operational oceanography in the Mediterranean area in the framework of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) strategy, and she’s co-president of JCOMM, the Joint WMO and IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology.

The honorable mention of University of Liège underlines the fact that the relevant results achieved by Prof. Pinardi in the field of oceanographic research are due not only to her excellent scientific skills and expertise, but also to her dynamism and her capacity to engange, motivate and inspire young researchers while involving them in many reasearch activities combinig scientific and operational oceanography.

The ceremony of the degree Honoris Causa took place at Liège University (Amphithéâtre de l’Europe) on March 18, 2017, after a conference held by Prof. Pinardi on March 17, 2017, entitled: “Ocean forecasting: from descriptive to quantitative science“.

Info and contacts: Mauro Buonocore – CMCC – Press Officer [email protected] tel. +39 0832 671060