Professor Ed Hill OBE heads the UK Delegation to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), established in 1960 as a body with functional autonomy within UNESCO, and the only competent organisation for marine science within the UN system.
Chief Executive of the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, Professor Hill has led the UK delegation to the IOC since 2017. He has extensive experience as an academic physical oceanographer, where he participated in or led over twenty research expeditions mostly in continental shelf seas. Having led multiple oceanographic research institutes throughout his career, Professor Hill has a wide-ranging strategic view of all aspects of oceanographic science. He is an expert in mission-oriented science and technology research programmes, operations of large research infrastructures (including research ships and deep-sea autonomous systems), marine data management, provision of advice to governments and engagement with marine industries.
Professor Hill graduated with a BSc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Sheffield before gaining his MSc and PhD in Oceanography at Bangor University’s Marine Science Laboratories in Menai Bridge, North Wales. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) from the University of Sheffield (2011), is an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University (2014) and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010 for services to environmental sciences. Hill is also a member of the Challenger Society for Marine Science and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.