Born and raised with a window on the Strait of Messina, Arianna followed her passion for the sea across the Channel, first at Bangor University (Wales, UK) and then with a master's degree in Marine Ecology and Conservation at the University of Plymouth (UK). She currently works as a freelancer for research, dissemination and conservation projects dedicated to involving and empowering citizens to act for marine conservation. Citizen science expert and chair of the Mediterranean Special Interest Group for the Marine Biological Association UK, she is scientific coordinator of OutBe, the start-up that connects sportsmen who experience the sea outdoors, with researchers who study and protect it.

Marina Lipizer, scientist at the Italian National Institute of Oceanography and of Applied Geophysics (OGS), Division of Oceanography. She has been involved in research in the fields of biological, chemical and physical oceanography, with particular interest on the effects of anthropogenic activities on the marine ecosystem, on long - term ecosystem variability in coastal areas, on environmental emergencies and global climate change. She collaborates with the National Oceanographic Data Centre (OGS – NODC) for the management and scientific validation of chemical and biological data related to Environmental Status descriptors of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), in particular for Biodiversity, Eutrophication, Contaminants and Contaminants in seafood, in order to provide products useful for the assessment of the marine environment within the EU – DG MARE initiative EMODnet (European Marine Data and Information Network) Chemistry and Biology. She contributes to the assessment of data and information required for the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and to the promotion of science-policy-society dialogue between the EU data infrastructures and stakeholders involved in the MSFD and MSP process (EU Member States, EEA, JRC, ICES, Regional Sea Conventions). She has participated, also with a leading role, in several national and international projects, funded by DG MARE, DEG ENV, INTERREG, H2020 and Horizon-Europe, supporting EU environmental policies to protect Europe’s ocean, seas and coasts (e.g. Marine Knowledge 2020, Blue Growth, Biodiversity Strategy, Zero Pollution). She is currently involved in several projects funded by National Recovery and Resilience Plan and by DG MARE. 

Inga Lips is the Secretary General of the European Global Observing System (EuroGOOS). She also serves as Chair of the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) steering group and represents EuroGOOS at the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) Regional Alliances Council. She has spent most of her career studying phytoplankton dynamics affected by the hydrophysical and biogeochemical processes in the Baltic Sea. She has combined biological and physical oceanography in her research, integrating traditional ship-based measurements and laboratory analysis with data from autonomous measuring and sampling platforms. She has led many national and international projects, coordinated Estonia's national open sea monitoring program, developed national and Baltic Sea-wide oceanographic measurement programs, and established the Marine Ecology Lab at Tallinn University of Technology.