FINMARI Has Strengthened Finnish Marine Research for a Decade
The Finnish Marine Research Infrastructure FINMARI is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. During its operation, FINMARI has improved marine research equipment and facilities and strengthened Finnish cross-disciplinary cooperation for the benefit of marine research.
Information produced by FINMARI infrastructures about Finland’s marine areas is in high demand, especially in the production of offshore wind farms and other construction, food security and the situational picture of national security. The consortium supports and utilises the latest marine research technology, such as sea drones and autonomous monitoring stations anchored to the seabed. Marine research is heavily dependent on equipment and research facilities, which is why the FINMARI infrastructure funded by the Academy of Finland is greatly important for domestic marine research.
Global climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and the changed security situation in the Baltic Sea are closely linked together. The ecosystems and the use of Finnish marine and coastal areas are changing at an unprecedented rate. To understand these changes, a multidisciplinary and coordinated approach to marine research is essential.
The FINMARI consortium consists of Finnish research institutes (Finnish Environment Institute, Geological Survey of Finland, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Natural Resources Institute Finland) and universities (University of Helsinki, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University). Regards to international cooperation, FINMARI has helped Finnish marine researchers and research institutes to connect to European research and infrastructure networks, such as the Joint European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observatories (JERICO), European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) and European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet).
Fine examples of domestic cooperation in the consortium include the MAAMERI project, which studied the phosphorus loading in the Archipelago Sea, and the PHYTOTRANS project, which was launched in 2023 to investigate the transport, degradation, and burial of particles in sea. During its ten years of operation, FINMARI has deepened cross-disciplinary cooperation and improved the conditions for marine research in Finland.
The annual FINMARI Researcher Day seminar on Thursday 7 March is also the 10th anniversary celebration of the FINMARI consortium. The seminar brings together more than 100 marine researchers from different scientific fields from Finnish research institutes and universities. The seminar will present the latest topics in marine research, such as the digital twins of the ocean and submarine groundwater discharge.
Further information
Aarno Kotilainen
Research Professor
Geological Survey of Finland GTK
aarno.kotilainen@gtk.fi
Katri Kuuppo
Consortium Manager, FINMARI Finnish Marine Research Infrastructure
Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)
katri.kuuppo@syke.fi
More on the FINMARI marine research network:
FINMARI ‒ Finnish Marine Research Infrastructure
More on the seminar: FINMARI Researcher Day 2024
