Lionel LOUBERSAC

When Lionel LOUBERSAC left school, there was no such thing as a degree in Applied Oceanography. So, next best thing, he studied at the School for Water and Environmental Engineering (ENGEES) in Strasbourg, a far cry from his passion for oceanography… and a long way, geographically-speaking, from the ocean. But, like a man with a mission, he managed to persuade the CNEXO (French National Centre for the Exploitation of the Oceans) to give him a training grant to study the sea and, in particular, the issue of oil discharges from polluting vessels. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, he contributed to setting up an airborne monitoring system. This was an exciting and rewarding experience, aimed at deterring offshore oil discharges, and crowned by professional achievement and an entry into the world of remote sensing and ocean observing systems and their many applications, which he has made his speciality.

Then the time came to do his National Service but, rather than drills and weapons training in mainland France, Lionel LOUBERSAC used his expertise in water and environmental engineering to join up as a volunteer in New Caledonia (1976), searching for groundwater to supply communities in the Loyalty Islands. There he fell hook, line and sinker for the region’s marine biodiversity, and the need to protect it. He also developed a growing awareness of the issues at stake in the Pacific, one of the planet’s unique maritime environments.

Specialising in digital image processing (ENSPM/IFP) as far back as 1974, Lionel LOUBERSAC went to work at CNEXO as Project Lead.
He joined Ifremer when it was founded in 1984, first as research unit head, and then department head. He obtained his doctorate (Docteur d’Université) in 2001, on space observation of coastal ecosystems in the South Pacific.
He then spent four years in French Polynesia, travelling far and wide across the Pacific.
Lionel LOUBERSAC has taken part in numerous oceanography campaigns. One expedition in particular, undertaken in 2012 as part of the French EXTRAPLAC programme on the extension of the Continental Shelf, off the Marquises archipelago, left its mark: the experience of life at sea and the need for solidarity and respect among the crew, the force of the ocean, a humbling experience, one that raises many ethical questions, and the incredible experience of exploring the abyss and using ground-breaking technology.

In 2010, he was awarded the Ifremer Trophée du Parcours Scientifique by the French Ministry for Research in recognition of his distinguished career in the sciences. He then spent the rest of his career as Director of the Ifremer Delegation in New Caledonia.

Never one to sit on his laurels, he co-founded and became Manager of the New Caledonia Maritime Cluster (CMNC), aiming to forge links between the French Overseas territories by encouraging collective intelligence and raising their awareness of the challenges they must deal with. He also wrote a “Livre Bleu” (Blue Paper) for New Caledonia, setting out a blue growth strategy for the area.

At the same time, Lionel LOUBERSAC set up Océan Avenir NC and is the local representative for CREOCEAN SA in New Caledonia. He also acts as a representative within the following entities: the AFB (Biodiversity French Agency) Ultramarine Biodiversity Steering Committee, the IHEDN (France’s Institute of National Higher Defense Studies) Regional Association 32, the Maritime Cluster of the Representative Council of French Overseas Citizens (CREFOM) as French Institute of the Sea (IFM) working groups.

In August 2020, when Jean-Marc SORNIN, Morgane RAVILLY, Michel COLINET and Jean-Damien BERGERON contacted him to see if he would be interested in running the ABYSSA NC subsidiary for the Pacific region, he leapt at the chance. He loved the idea of going from observing the oceans from space to exploring the deep ocean floor using cutting-edge investigation equipment. With ABYSSA, Lionel LOUBERSAC hopes to find responses to the major economic, strategic, societal and environmental challenges facing humanity, including in relation to the immeasurable expanses of the Pacific Ocean he knows and loves.

“There is the real and there is the unreal… Beyond the real and beyond the unreal, there is the deep!”
Henry de Montherlant