Unlocking potential new species from the South Atlantic & Southern Ocean:
The SSI2 Chile Margin
Species Discovery Workshop
Three expeditions, one workshop
In September 2026, a group of global marine taxonomists will come together in Punta Arenas, Chile for the Schmidt Ocean Institute SSI2 Chile Margin Species Discovery Workshop, supported by founding partners The Nippon Foundation and Nekton.
The workshop will be hosted at the Instituto de la Patagonia, which is associated with the University of Magallanes, from 7th-25th September 2026. Local experts and invited international participants will be drawing on samples from a series of pioneering scientific expeditions: South Sandwich Islands (SOI Trenches, underwater volcanoes, and spreading centers of the volcanic South Sandwich Islands, 2025), Chile Margin (SOI Canyons, Vents, and Seeps of the Chile Margin, 2024) and the Bellingshausen Sea (SOI Arctic climate connections in the Antarctic Peninsula in the Bellingshausen Sea, 2025).
Featured image: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
Samples from the South Atlantic & Southern Ocean
The remote South Sandwich Islands form an 11-island arc in the Scotia Sea, within the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area. Shaped by powerful tectonic forces, the region is home to deep-sea trenches, underwater volcanoes, spreading centres and seamounts — habitats that can support species found nowhere else.
In February and March 2025, the Ocean Census South Sandwich Islands Expedition with Schmidt Ocean Institute, explored this rarely sampled region, aiming to discover new species and map deep-sea habitats. The specimens collected during the expedition, alongside material from Schmidt Ocean Institute expeditions to the Chile Margin (Canyons, Vents, and Seeps of the Chile Margin) and Bellingshausen Sea (Climate Connections at the Ice-Sea Interface), will form the focus of the Species Discovery Workshop in Punta Arenas.
Image credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute
Local specimens, global collaboration
Hosted by the Instituto de la Patagonia, Universidad de Magallanes, the workshop brings together seven taxonomists from the Ocean Census Science Network and four researchers from the Universidad de Magallanes. Together, they will combine regional knowledge and taxonomic expertise to identify and document species from these pioneering expeditions.
Species data and high-quality images will be recorded in Ocean Census NOVA, the world’s only open-access data platform dedicated to the discovery of marine species, creating a foundation for future research and formal scientific description.
The workshop will also provide opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration and Early Career Researchers, helping to strengthen scientific networks and build long-term capacity for marine biodiversity research in the region.
Image Credit: Ocean Census
Meet the Experts
This species discovery workshop will feature eight exceptional group of scientists from diverse regions and specialisations, including:
- Mariano Martinez, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales-CONICET, Argentina
Research Focus: Holothurians - Virag Venekey, Federal University of Pará, Brazil
Research Focus: Nematodes - Matthew Lee, Universidad de Los Lagos, Chile
Research Focus: Nematodes - Brenda Doti, Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada (IBBEA, UBA-CONICET), Argentina
Research Focus: Isopods - Emily Chen, Institute of Marine Ecosystem and Fishery Science, University of Hamburg, Germany
Research Focus: Ostracods - Jasiel Gonzalez Bedolla, University of Aveiro, Department of Biology, Spain
Research Focus: Isopods & Amphipods - Narissa Bax, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources & Western Australian Museum
Research Focus: Cnidarians - Jorge Pérez-Schultheiss, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile
Research Focus: Amphipods
Image Credit: Ocean Census
Workshop Hosts:
- Americo Montiel, UMAG Universidad de Magallanes, Chile
- Tania Figueroa, UMAG Universidad de Magallanes, Chile
- Christian Aldea, UMAG Universidad de Magallanes, Chile
- Leslie Novoa, UMAG Universidad de Magallanes, Chile
Ocean Census Team
- Isla Monaghan, Workshop Coordinator, Ocean Census
- Julia Roessger, Data Management Officer, Ocean Census
- Maya de Paz, Communications Officer, Ocean Census
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