Seventeen researchers from La Jolla's Scripps Institution of Oceanography will travel to Antalya, Türkiye, for the United Nations climate conference known as COP31, which runs Nov. 9–20.

The Scripps contingent makes up the bulk of a 24-member University of California delegation, according to UC San Diego. The group includes PhD students, master's candidates, faculty and staff whose research spans coral reefs, sea-level change, ocean noise, mercury pollution and climate economics.

This year's conference has been dubbed the "Blue COP" for placing the ocean at the center of global climate talks. Scripps and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will co-lead the Ocean Pavilion at COP31 for a fifth consecutive year. The pavilion has scheduled more than 65 panel talks, keynote addresses, roundtables and multimedia art presentations.

"This year provides an unprecedented opportunity for countries to set meaningful ocean protection and monitoring measures into motion," Scripps Director Meenakshi Wadhwa said in an October announcement. "The ocean shields society from the most catastrophic consequences of growing climate instability, so every investment we make in it delivers exponential returns."

Wadhwa, who also serves as UC San Diego's vice chancellor for marine sciences, is attending the first week of the conference.

Who's going

The delegation spans a wide range of ocean-climate research. Tommy Stone, a PhD student studying applied ocean science, uses satellite measurements and computational models to track changes in ocean currents and sea level. His work aims to help coastal communities plan for a changing ocean.

"At COP31, I hope to facilitate the conversation between scientists and policymakers in support of sea-level resilience," Stone said, according to UC San Diego.

Other delegates include Ahmyia Cacapit, a PhD candidate who digitizes coral reefs across the Pacific using underwater photogrammetry, and Aurora Czajkowski, a PhD student researching how pollution from sources including the Tijuana River Valley reaches communities through ocean-atmosphere exchange. Tom Corringham, a Scripps climate economist, studies the economic and equity impacts of extreme weather.

The delegation also includes Margaret Leinen, director emeritus of Scripps, and Lisa Levin, a distinguished professor emeritus who has contributed to multiple Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. Vladimir Ryabinin, former executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at UNESCO, will serve as an adviser.

Offsetting travel emissions

Scripps delegates will pay the "equity-weighted" social cost of carbon tied to their flights, a program the institution has continued from prior conferences. The social cost of carbon is a science-based estimate of economic damages created by each additional ton of emissions. Round-trip international flights often cost between $400 and $1,000 per traveler under the UC estimate, depending on distance and route, according to UC San Diego.

Delegates are encouraged to pay a portion individually. Scripps covers the remainder. The payments go to nonprofits focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or helping communities deal with climate impacts.

Student travel is supported by former Scripps Director Charles Kennel and his wife, Ellen Lehman, along with individual donors and Logitech.

The two-week conference runs through Nov. 20 in Antalya.