Thomas Lauvaux and Olivier Laurent to co-lead ICOS Atmosphere Thematic Centre
New winds will be blowing in the ICOS Atmosphere Thematic Centre (ATC) in the autumn, when Thomas Lauvaux and Olivier Laurent start as ATC Directors, effective September 1st, 2026. Dr Leonard Rivier, the long-term Director of ATC will move to the French Ministry of Science and Education in September. Leo has held the ATC Director position since its establishment in 2014.
The Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE) which is hosting ATC, uses this opportunity to slightly reorganise its operations, initiating a co-leadership model with two directors to ensure each part of the ATC gets the attention and leadership they deserve.
Olivier Laurent will be responsible for operational management of the ICOS ATC team consisting of a data unit and the world-famous metrology lab, ensuring smooth coordination between scientific, technical and support activities. Currently, Laurent is managing the Metrology Lab within ATC.
Dr Thomas Lauvaux will handle strategic coordination with national supervising bodies and the rest of the ICOS RI. This includes also interactions with ICOS Head Office and other Thematic Centres. Thomas Lauvaux currently works as a CNRS Senior Researcher at LSCE, focusing on the coordination of the ICOS ATC and research projects in carbon cycle science.
The two leads will obviously cooperate closely, for example to further develop relationships with other research related organisations such as universities, ministries or RIs, to ensure adequate budgets and resources as well in terms of EU-projects and proposals.
Leo Rivier is confident that the dual leadership will benefit ATC: “It shows the work we are doing is highly valued by our stakeholders and the scientific community. This will also support in gaining increased scientific valorisation for ATC observations and contributes to the development of standards for atmospheric measurement and data management.”
“It has been a privilege to work with the brilliant people in ATC and more widely within the ICOS community. I wish all the best to ATC and ICOS in general for the future,” Leo says.
In addition to the Directors Thomas Lauvaux and Olivier Laurent, the LSCE has a Scientific/Technical Advisory Group for ICOS matters: Michel Ramonet (CNRS, Head of ICOS-RAMCES team) continues as the Scientific Lead for the SNO ICOS Atmosphere network, while the Deputy Head of ICOS-ATC team Camille Yver (CEA) acts also as the Head of the ATC Metrology Laboratory and Lynn Hazan (CEA) continues as the Head of the ATC Data Unit.
Photograph of Oliver Laurent (left) by Jaroslav Monchak. Photograph of Thomas Lavaux (right) by Charlotta Henry.