About

The GEOHAB 2026 conference will take place between the 11- 15 May 2026 at the University of Malta Valletta Campus.  Kindly follow instructions on how to get to the conference venue.

Objectives:

The main objectives of the conference are to:

1. Bring together scientists and stakeholders to share their experiences and expertise about topics related to marine habitat mapping
2. Support government marine spatial planning, sustainable ocean management and decision-making
3. Support and underpin the design of marine protected areas
4. Disseminate scientific research programs aimed at generating knowledge of benthic ecosystems and seafloor geology
5. Showcase living and non-living seabed resource assessments for economic and management purposes

Session themes:

The conference sessions will be defined based on the abstracts received. Anticipated themes include:

• Climate change effects on marine habitats
• Coastal and shallow-water habitats
• Continental shelf & slope habitats
• Deep-sea habitats
• Deep-sea mining
• Habitat mapping for marine restoration
• Human impacts on marine habitats
• Management & communication
• Mapping programs, datasets, efforts & partnerships
• New approaches & technologies
• Participatory mapping, citizen science & outreach
• Polar & sub-polar environments
• Urban sea systems

Event calendar:

• Abstract submission deadline: January 16, 2026
• Ron McDowell Award application deadline: January 16, 2026
• Abstract acceptance notification: February 27, 2026
• Early-bird registration closes: March 31, 2026 (noon CET)
• Registration ends: April 30, 2026 (noon CET)

Organising Committee:

Aaron Micallef

Julian Evans

Monica-Giona Bucci

Timothy Le Bas

Scientific Committee:

• Aaron Micallef, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, USA
• Alex Cardoso Bastos, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Brazil
• Benjamin Misiuk, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
• Federica Foglini, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-ISMAR), Italy
• H. Gary Greene, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, USA
• Hayley Cawthra, Council for Geoscience & Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
• Julian Evans, University of Malta, Malta
• Khaira Ismail, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia
• Marc Roche, Continental Shelf Service, FPS Économie, Belgium
• Mary Young, Deakin University, Australia
• Rodolphe Devillers, Institut de recherche pour le développement, La Réunion, France
• Sally Watson, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research & University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Tim Le Bas, National Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom
• Vincent Lecours, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada

Student evaluation committee:

• Vincent Lecours, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada (chair)
• Tereza Araújo, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil
• Lilja Bjarnadóttir, Geological Survey of Norway, Norway
• Łukasz Janowski, Gdynia Maritime University, Poland
• Myriam Lacharité, University of Tasmania, Australia
• Pedro Menandro, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil
• Pavlína Podholová, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium
• Peter Porskamp, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Heather Stewart, Kelpie Geoscience, United Kingdom