Dear members & friends of SUT, allow me to introduce myself, Steve Hall. I started as the new CEO of the Society for Underwater Technology at the start of April after Dr Bob Allwood’s retirement, and following a first week attending the Ocean Business trade show in Southampton am now settling in at the London office. As some of you will know I’ve been a member (eventually Fellow) of SUT since the 1990s, mainly supporting our education activities, presenting at the Christmas lectures, and serving as a member of Council, including stints as Chair and Hon Secretary. It will be quite a different kind of role as Chief Executive, I’m very happy indeed to have been appointed, and am looking forward to working with the global SUT family to help deliver a modern, international Learned Society that promotes the further understanding of the underwater environment and encourages the sharing of ideas, best practice, research, techniques and tools to explore the ocean and harvest resources in a responsible manner.

My own background is in ocean science, technology and policy. I worked for the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council for over 26 years, ending up as head of the International & Strategic Partnerships Office at the National Oceanography Centre, where I was also head of the UK’s delegation to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, where I was elected vice-chair in 2015. Over the last decade I’ve helped the UK, EU and UN system develop policy on marine autonomous systems, marine spatial planning, decommissioning, tsunami warning systems, fisheries reform, oil spill response, data management and many other areas of ocean governance & policy. Before that my career included time as programme manager for ‘Autosub’ AUV science missions, conducting tracer chemistry analysis at sea as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, acting as the schools and colleges liaison officer, interaction with Learned Societies and Professional Bodies and an early phase of my career in a small private sector survey company and as a hydrocarbons specialist for HM Customs and Excise.

SUT enables me to bring all of this broad experience to the service of our members, as we face a rapidly changing world where the ocean will be increasingly where humankind looks for living space, energy, food resources, minerals and security. It’s a wonderful time to be working with the global ocean science, engineering, education and policy community and I look forward to engaging with you all in the coming years. Email me at [email protected] , follow me on Twitter as @saltwatersteve and at @sut_news