2026 TOS Mentoring Award

Elva Escobar Briones

For exceptional leadership in mentoring, tutoring, and teaching biological oceanography, fostering an inclusive and equitable mentoring environment in the lab and at sea, with a positive impact

The Oceanography Society (TOS) has selected Dr. Elva Escobar Briones of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, as the recipient of the TOS Mentoring Award, recognizing her outstanding and sustained excellence in mentoring the next generation of ocean scientists, as well as her leadership in advancing inclusion, equity, and capacity building in oceanography. Her achievements will be celebrated during the TOS Honors Breakfast on February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

The TOS Mentoring Award honors individuals whose mentorship has had a transformative impact on students, early career professionals, and colleagues, and whose leadership has strengthened the global ocean science community. Dr. Escobar Briones exemplifies these goals through decades of dedicated mentorship, visionary leadership, and a deep commitment to expanding access to ocean science.

Over nearly four decades, Dr. Escobar Briones has mentored an extraordinary number of students and early career scientists, including 76 thesis students across undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels—more than 60% of whom are women—as well as more than 150 additional mentees through advisory and supervisory roles. Her former students now serve as researchers, educators, and leaders across Latin America and internationally.

“Her mentorship is proven, sustained, and transformative,” wrote Dr. Maria Fernanda Adame, a former mentee now an Associate Professor with Griffith University in Australia. “She provided the academic foundation, professional confidence, and research identity that allowed me to pursue a successful international career.”

Dr. Escobar Briones’ mentoring philosophy is inseparable from her leadership in promoting equity, inclusion, and access. She has been a pioneer in ensuring that oceanographic training—particularly deep-sea science—is available to students from historically underrepresented and resource-limited regions. Through more than 45 oceanographic expeditions, many as Chief Scientist, she has intentionally created opportunities for undergraduate students, early career researchers, and women to participate in ship-based research, achieving gender equity in research cruise participation.

Her impact extends beyond individuals to regional and international capacity building. Dr. Escobar Briones has played a central role in UN Ocean Decade Projects 136 and 137, and in IOCARIBE’s Capacity Development Working Group, helping to build durable networks for training, vessel access, and international collaboration across the Western Tropical Atlantic and Caribbean.

“As a colleague in the Latin American region, I have had the privilege of working with Dr. Escobar Briones in collaborative initiatives to expand deep-sea education and research capacity building where resources are often limited,” wrote Professor Jorge Cortés of the Universidad de Costa Rica. “Her leadership in bringing deep-sea science training to Spanish-speaking students has been particularly impactful…students reported that the experience changed their academic trajectories and opened global career doors.”

Dr. Escobar Briones’ mentoring excellence is further strengthened by her stature as a respected and influential scientist. She is internationally recognized for advancing understanding of deep-sea ecosystems and for linking science to conservation, management, and societal needs. Her leadership style—collaborative, inclusive, and deeply supportive—has created environments where students and colleagues thrive.

“To be an effective mentor…the recipient must be a respected scientist with proven ability for science leadership,” wrote Professor Eileen E. Hofmann of Old Dominion University. “Elva more than meets these requirements… The result is a long history of effective leadership and mentoring.”

In selecting Dr. Elva Escobar Briones for the TOS Mentoring Award, The Oceanography Society recognizes a mentor whose influence spans generations, whose leadership has helped shift the center of oceanographic capacity toward Latin America, and whose career stands as a model for how mentorship, equity, and scientific excellence together can shape the future of ocean science.