Prof. Dr. Baris Salihoglu is the Director of the Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University (METU-IMS). He leads a DEKOSIM project establishing a new interdisciplinary center of excellence (Centre for Marine Ecosystem and Climate Research) funded by the Turkish Ministry of Development. His research interests cover a variety of topics, which range from mathematical modeling of marine ecosystems to descriptive physical oceanography. His main research focus is on exploring the marine ecosystem and biogeochemical dynamics via the combination of modeling and data analyses. He works on the development of biogeochemical cycle models in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Black Seas. He has been actively involved in European Blue Growth Initiatives. He is a member of BlueMed Group of Senior Official (GSO) Working Group on behalf of Turkey. He was one of the leading proponents of the preparation of the Black Sea SRIA within the framework of the Blue Growth Initiative for Research and Innovation in the Black Sea and now he is the coordinator of H2020 CSA – Black Sea CONNECT which aims to carry out the development of the Black Sea Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and implementation plan both at a national and regional level (http://connect2blacksea.org/contact/). He has established a Blue Growth Center in Turkey that will focus on promoting the sustainable growth of marine sectors at a national scale.
