International Network for Submarine Canyon Investigation and Scientific Exchange

Human connections to the deep sea

INCISE (International Network for submarine Canyon Investigation and Scientific Exchange) is an initiative that aims to bring together scientists working on all aspects of submarine canyon research, and to stimulate discussions across disciplines.

What is INCISE?

The main goal of the INCISE network is to create a platform for the exchange of ideas and research insights regarding submarine canyons. We do this through several initiatives, including through a regular symposium, organised every other year in different part of the world. We also coordinate a series of working groups focussing on specific questions or topics related to submarine canyons, and creating relevant outputs for science and the wider community.

INCISE is a friendly, interdisciplinary group mainly consisting of researchers, yet also reaching out to policy-makers, industry partners, wider stakeholders in the marine environment interested in submarine canyons. While some aspects of submarine canyon science may be highly technical and specialist, the goal is for contributions to INCISE initiatives to be accessible to a wide scientific audience.

Submarine canyons

Submarine canyons are important features along the world’s continental margins. They create heterogeneity in the terrain and provide the main pathway for sediment (and pollutant!) transport from the shelf to the deep sea. Although long known, their study has always been a challenge because of their complicated morphology and extreme terrain.

A number of technological advances over the last two decades (e.g. the development of ROVs) have opened up new opportunities for canyon research. This, together with an increased interest in the role of submarine canyons both as potential biodiversity hotspots and as locations for the study of geohazards, has fuelled a new wave of research activities.

Canyon geology, sedimentology, geomorphology, oceanography, ecology, biodiversity and habitat distribution are under investigation all over the world. Time to bring together all these pieces of the jigsaw and start looking at canyons in a holistic way!

INCISE 2023

The next INCISE conference in 2023 will take place in New Zealand

Hosted by NIWA Climate, Freshwater & Ocean Science

Find information on all our previous INCISE events on the timeline below

INCISE Events

December 4 2023

Sixth Symposium

INCISE2023   Organised in Wellington, New Zealand   By NIWA Climate, Freshwater & Ocean Science
June 14 2021

Fifth symposium

INCISE 2021

Virtual conference hosted by the University of Gibraltar

June 17 2020

Fifth Symposium (Postponed)

Was scheduled in June 2020 to be held in Cork, Ireland, but was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions

November 5 2018

Fourth symposium

INCISE 2018

Held in Shenzhen, China

June 15 2016

Third symposium

INCISE 2016

Held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

September 29 2014

Second symposium

INCISE 2014

Hosted by the British Geological Survey, Edinburgh (UK)

January 1 2012

First symposium

Held in Brest, France

Latest INCISE News

Follow @INCISE_net on Twitter
  • Animation of Internal Tides in Whittard Canyon
    Tabitha Pearman (SAERI, formerly at NOC, UK) and Sam Jones (SAMS, UK) created a nice video, illustrating the internal tides in Whittard Canyon, and how they might influence the habitat for specific benthic species. You can find the video here:
  • International Conference on Seafloor Landforms, Processes and Evolution
    The call for abstracts for the International Conference on Seafloor Landforms, Processes and Evolution, which will be organised in Valletta (Malta) in July 2022, is now open.  The deadline for this call is the 15th December 2021. More info on: https://www.um.edu.mt/events/seafloor2022
  • Senior and junior scientist job positions open at ONC:
    There are two job openings in our Ocean Networks Canada Science Team: a senior position in ocean biogeochemistry and a junior position in marine biodiversity with focus on marine imaging.The senior staff scientist is a permanent position and the junior is a three-year term with the possibility to becoming permanent . The detailed job postings and description can be found at ONC’s page below: … Read more

Get in touch

If you have any questions or just want to say hello, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll get back to you soon.


    INCISE organisation:

    Jaime Davies (Plymouth University)
    Veerle Huvenne (NOC, Southampton)

    Email us: info (at) incisenet.org

    INCISE Committee:

    Rob Hall (University of East Anglia)
    Nathalie Valette-Silver (Formerly NOAA)
    Joshu Mountjoy (NIWA)
    Pere Puig (ICM-CSIC Barcelona)
    Fabio De Leo (Ocean Networks Canada)

    Peter Harris (Geoscience Australia)