I thank AGU and the Ocean Sciences section for this award. I am deeply honored, but this award also recognizes colleagues, students, and postdocs with whom I have worked over many years.
A scientific career is a human adventure, made of encounters that shape each of our paths. I had the great chance early on to meet Olivier Aumont and Corinne Le Quéré. Both have inspired me throughout my career, and it is a great pleasure to continue working with them. I also thank my close colleagues at LSCE and at Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Christian Ethé, Marion Gehlen, James Orr, Marina Lévy, to name a few, with whom I have collaborated in such a constructive way for so many years.
The fruitful interactions with doctoral and postdoctoral students represent an indispensable source of motivation for my research. It is these day-to-day discussions that allow me to move forward and remain passionate about science. It’s wonderful to see many of them, Birgit Schneider, Alessandro Tagliabue, Italo Massotti, Laure Resplandy, becoming professors at leading universities around the world.
An essential part of my job is to convey our science to junior scientists, but also to the general public and especiallly young people. The Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) and Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBER) summer schools have been key moments for this transmission of knowledge. The numerous school visits to talk with children about the ocean and climate are also magical moments.
Most importantly, this would have been impossible without the constant support of my wife Annette and my four children.