European Scientists Embark on Landmark Two-Year Learning Expedition

On April 2, 2023, Traversing European Coastlines (TREC), a scientific expedition led by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), begins a groundbreaking journey to study the land-sea interface — life at the coastal regions — across large parts of the European seashore. 

"During her new expedition, which is the sea component of TREC, Tara will measure the invisible living majority in marine coastal ecosystems, which has been so important to shape diversity over the last 3.5 billion years, and is today sustaining human societies and planetary health," said CNRS - Sorbonne University research director and Tara Europa scientific director Dr. Colomban de Vargas. "Importantly, the sea and land sampling will open new dimensions to explore and question ocean life as a whole, allowing us to image and measure the sub-cellular structures and molecules within the most important cells and holobionts at the core of marine ecosystems."