The applications for InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship of Julia Machon, Inmaculada Frutos and Guangyu Xu have been accepted for funding. The application of Thomas N. Guigère for the InterRidge Cruise Bursaries has also been validated by the Steering Committee. Congratulations!

InterRidge Working Group on Ecological Connectivity and Resilience, chaired by Anna Metaxas and Lauren Mullineaux, has recently published a review entitled "Exploring the Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents in a Metacommunity Framework" in Frontiers in Marine Science. Congratulations to authors for this thorough review of current knowledge and gaps on the mechanisms supporting the stability of vent meta-communities, of high relevance to the assessment of impacts at regional scales and design of protection plans!

David and his wife were originally from South Africa, a country to which they remained strongly attached. After his university studies in Cape Town, David joined the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory near New York in 1963. The Lamont was created after the second world war and represented the lead of the United States in oceanography.

An InterRidge Working Group is currently being proposed on seamounts and volcanic islands located close to mid-ocean ridges. This will address a wide range of science and practical questions that range from solid earth to biology. At the moment, the group includes researchers studying the Azores, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and the Foundation Seamounts.

Following an invitation by SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research), the InterRidge Steering Committee has decided to support the organization of the Joint InterRidge-SCOR Workshop on the Indian Ocean Ridges. Discussions with SCOR on the workshop organization are currently starting.

At this beginning of the year 2018, we wish to all the members of InterRidge community a very happy new year, hoping to see you joining our efforts in the promotion of mid-ocean ridge research.

The InterRidge Office

The 3rd European Mantle Workshop will take place in the historical University of Pavia, situated approximately 40 km South of Milan, from Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th June 2018. The workshop aims at providing a framework of advanced knowledge on the evolution of the Earth’s mantle. The workshop is mainly intended to discuss the mantle beneath Europe and neighboring areas; presentations from other parts of the world are welcome. Oral and poster presentations are scheduled.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is explicitly mandated to promote and encourage the conduct of marine scientific research in the Area (UNCLOS, art.143), and accordingly, the coordination and dissemination of the results of such research analysis. In line with the above, the ISA Secretary-General Award for Research Excellence is one of seven voluntary commitments made by the Authority at the 2017 UN Ocean Conference.

The InterRidge Office is pleased to announce the launch of the second call for Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in 2017. As part of InterRidge’s mission to promote international, collaborative, and interdisciplinary studies of oceanic spreading centers, we invite proposals for InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowships of up to 5000 US$ each.

InterRidge News is published annually by the InterRidge Office. The next - 23rd Volume shall be published in November 2017. Our newsletter contains brief research articles, the world ridge cruise schedule, updates from the InterRidge Working Groups and from our National Correspondents, and a calendar of upcoming meetings of interest to the InterRidge community. InterRidge News is intended for the rapid publication of preliminary results and cruise reports that do not appear in other publications.