An introducton to the Ross sea international conference special issue

An international conference on the oceanography of the Ross Sea was held in Naples, Italy in July 2023. A total of 75 abstracts were presented orally, and 20 presented as posters. Researchers from 11 countries attended, with conference support from a variety of public and private firms. The conference was held under the patronage of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Southern Ocean Observing System, the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricera, the Programma Nazionale di Recerche in Antartide, and the Commissione Oceanografica Italiana, and was organized by Parthenope University of Naples and Marche Polytechnic University of Ancona. The papers included were either presented at the meeting or were closely related to the conference's goals and program. The conference maintained Italy's long tradition of hosting engaging conferences on oceanographic research in the Ross Sea.