Victor Smetacek was born in 1946 in Kolkata, India. He is an Indian-German oceanographer and marine biologist. From 1986 to 2011, he worked as a professor of biological oceanography at the University of Bremen and led the Pelagic Ecosystems Division at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Early life and education

Victor Shahed Smetacek was born in 1946 in Kolkata, India. He grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas and became interested in natural history during his childhood. He wanted to solve problems facing society, such as famines in India. This led him to study marine biology.

In 1964, Smetacek earned his B.Sc. in Biology and Economics from Government Degree College in Nainital, which was part of Agra University at that time (now known as Kumaon University). He later received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to study marine biology at Kiel University in Germany.

Smetacek completed his doctoral degree in 1975 at Kiel University with a dissertation titled "Die Sukzession des Phytoplanktons in der westlichen Kieler Bucht" (The Succession of Phytoplankton in the Western Kiel Bight). He completed his habilitation in 1985 at Kiel University with a thesis on "Die Struktur mariner pelagischer Systeme: Ansätze zu einer Synthese von physiko-chemischen und biologischen Betrachtungsweisen" (The Structure of Marine Pelagic Systems: Approaches to a Synthesis of Physico-chemical and Biological Perspectives).

Academic career

Smetacek has worked at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven since 1986. He led the Pelagic Ecosystems Division there. He was the chief scientist on eight research trips aboard the RV Polarstern, which involved scientists from different countries and fields. From 1986 to 2011, he was a professor of Bio-Oceanography at the University of Bremen. During this time, he helped guide many students who were working on their PhDs and diploma degrees.

Research and publications

Smetacek has written many articles for important scientific journals, such as Nature and Science. He is known for combining knowledge from different areas and using creative ideas in marine science. His work includes studies on how adding iron to the Southern Ocean affects marine life, such as the EisenEx, EIFEX, and LOHAFEX projects.

He has also studied topics outside of oceanography. In 1992, he wrote a paper in Nature about the link between Leonardo da Vinci’s mirror-writing and left-handedness. In 2010, he suggested a theory about the main purpose of sleep, explaining that it helps the body and brain adjust and reset. This idea was published in Medical Hypotheses. Smetacek also proposed and helped create the "whale poop" hypothesis, which describes how whales help move nutrients through ocean ecosystems.

In a 2003 interview with Nature, he explained his research methods and how he uses ideas from different fields.

Recently, Smetacek has worked on the idea of open-ocean floating Sargassum farms, which he calls the "third agricultural revolution." This idea led to the creation of Seafields Solutions Ltd., a UK-based company that aims to build these farms.

Awards and recognition

Smetacek has received several important awards during his career:

• A. G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences (1995) – recognized as one of the top experts in studying the ocean's living things
• Manley-Bendall Medal (2003) – given by the Oceanographic Institute in Paris for work in ocean life studies and knowledge about plankton
• Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award) (2012) – presented by the Government of India for important work in science