Professor Alex Rogers
Professor Alex Rogers is a conservation biologist at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on the diversity, ecology, conservation and evolution of marine species. He has special interests in the deep sea, particularly seamounts, cold-water corals and chemosynthetic ecosystems.
Alex Rogers collaborated with artist Mariele Neudecker on her deep sea project and has been discussing the psychological ideas behind looking at the deep sea and has given Neudecker access to the video footage from a 2011 expedition to the South West Indian Ocean to explore the biodiversity of seamounts. This was shown at the British Science Festival 2013 in Newcastle.
In December 2011 Roger’s led an expedition to the South West Indian Ocean to investigate the deep water seamounts. Please see the ship blog. Through the use of a unmanned submersible launched off the side of the RRS James Cook ship with robot arms and video controlled by the scientists, the team is explored new deep sea ecosystems and discovered new animals never previously seen by humans. Roger’s is collaborating with artist Mariele Neudecker who is developing ideas for artworks from his documentation.
Professor Rogers and Mirella von Lindenfels set up the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) with the aim of saving the Earth and all life on it. Currently, the Ocean is in a critical state of health. If it continues to decline, it will reach a point where it can no longer function effectively and our planet will be unable to sustain the ecosystems that support humankind.
Roger’s has worked on marine policy and undertaken projects for the UN International Seabed Authority, UN Division of Oceans and Law of the Sea, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, the IUCN and with the G8+5 Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) as a Commissioner for the Commission on Land Use Change and Ecosystems. He is also Scientific Director of the NGO the International Programme on State of the Ocean. Alex has published 57 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 12 book chapters and has co-authored published one book. His policy work has included recent articles in Species, Yale Global, European Voice and The Independent and he has authored or co-authored 35 reports on applied aspects of marine biology.