Sesame is an ambitious project aiming to assess and predict changes in Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems and their ability to support tourism, fisheries, and biodiversity, and mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration in water and sediments.

The University's Physical Ocean-ography (PO) unit is one of 20 partners from different countries involved in the project consortium, most of which bordering these southern European seas.

In the first week of June, the second Sesame summer school was hosted by the PO unit, supported by the Black Sea Commission and the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea (CIESM).

The summer school, co-ordinated by Marco Zavaterelli from the University of Bologna, involved lectures on applications of marine ecological models to areas such as fisheries and marine resource management areas, coupled with practical ecological modelling to give the participants hands-on experience. Such models can be used to indicate general possibilities or to forecast the most likely outcomes of particular populations or ecosystems.

For more useful information about the project and the PO unit visit www.sesameip.eu/scientist/project-aims-and-visions and www.capemalta.net.