EMBracing the Ocean Committee
The EMBracing the Ocean Committee are responsible for evaluating applications and selecting the awardees. Committee members also work together to develop the EMBracing the Ocean programme and advise awardees on the development of their work. The Committee members for 2023 - 2024 are:
Britt Alexander (Chair) is a Science Officer at the EMB Secreteriat in Belgium. Her work involves facilitation of EMB's science-policy expert working groups, including editorial and communication activities. She has also participats in EU projects including the EU's International Ocean Governance Forum, Towards IPOS and BRIDGE Black Sea. She previously worked at the the open-access journal Frontiers in Marine Science, has a PhD in marine sponge physiology and ecology from the University of Amsterdam, MSc in Applied Biotechnology from McGill University, Canada, and BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Bristol, UK. Britt has collaborated with UK artists on various projects and subsequently established the EMBracing the Ocean programme in 2021 in response to the recognition of the value of artistic work in addressing Ocean sustainability challenges as part of the UN Ocean Decade.
Veronica French is a marine scientist at the Marine Institute, Ireland. She works in International Programmes, supporting and promoting marine research and innovation at national, European and international level. She currently participates in the Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action ‘OKEANO: Supporting the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance’. Veronica completed her PhD at Charles Darwin University, Australia in 2013 on ‘An Investigation of Microcontaminant Impacts in Darwin Harbour Using the Tropical Marine Snail Telescopium Telescopium' and has worked in several science policy related roles. With a firm belief in the power of art to engage hearts and minds and with previous involvement in ocean literacy projects, Veronica sees the EMB’s artist-in-residence programme as an impactful way to facilitate art-science collaboration and engage a wider audience for the benefit of how we collectively care for the ocean. Veronica has been on the EMBracing the Ocean committee since 2024.
Daria Ezgeta Balić is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Croatia and a member of the European Marine Board Communication Panel. In addition to her scientific work, which focuses on marine bivalves, fisheries, and ocean literacy, she is actively engaged in science popularization. She has conducted numerous workshops for children and coordinated several projects dedicated to promoting ocean science. She has experience in designing activities that combine science and art to raise awareness of the importance of the ocean, especially among younger generations. Sonia has been on the EMBracing the Ocean committee since 2025.
Chris Fremantle is a researcher and producer focused on the roles of artists in public life, in particular in health and environment. He lectures at Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. He chairs the Ramsar Culture Networks’ Arts Focus Group and is advising a number of research-led arts projects including Ocean ARTic and AALERT. He established ecoartscotland in 2010 as a node in the ecoart community. Chris has been on the EMBracing the Ocean committee since 2021.
Sonia Levy is an artist and research-led filmmaker with a Berber-Polish background. Her work combines site-specific inquiries and interdisciplinary collaborations to examine how Western expansionist and extractive logics reshape hydrosocial worlds. She has exhibited and screened her work at institutions including Tate Modern, Macalline Center of Art, Beijing, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Villa Arson, ZKM, Ocean Space, Kunsthal Aarhus, CCA Radius, MarinMOCA, ICA London, Goldsmiths University, Nottingham Contemporary. Her research has been published by the MIT Press and recently presented at the University of Chicago, Paris, the Glasgow School of Art, the University of Exeter, London Metropolitan University, TU Delft, NYU Gallatin, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Levy is an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, School of Architecture, convenor of How Like a Reef, a Steering Committee member for the UN Ocean Decade programme on Connecting People and the Ocean, and EMBracing the Ocean alumni. Sonia has been on the EMBracing the Ocean committee since 2025.
Lera Litvinova is a Ukrainian visual artist and art curator. Lera is the founder of Lera Litvinova Gallery in Kyiv. She supports an active position in the development of Ukrainian culture, and is a participant and curator of social projects actively implementing the principle of cultural diplomacy to strengthen cultural relations. Lera is an EMBracing the Ocean alumni and has been on the EMBracing the Ocean committee since 2023.