Varanasi, Jan 12 : Dr Komal Verma, assistant professor in the department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has been invited to participate in the prestigious International Ocean Discovery Programme (IODP) Expedition 397 in the Atlantic Ocean as a micropalaeontology, during October-December, 2022. According to the BHU spokesperson, she will be representing India in this expedition and will be carrying out research onboard 'JOIDES RESOLUTION' along with international scientists from 17 countries including the UK, the US, Germany, Japan, China and others. This international team will be exploring the potential of marine energy resources. Her participation in this upcoming expedition will provide an unprecedented opportunity for advanced research and teaching in ocean science at international standards to the university and nation by the international collaborations with eminent shipboard scientists. According to the spokesman, the laboratory of the department of Geology of BHU, working in the field of oceanography and micropalaeontology, is the centre for the study of global oceanic and climate change and its impact of this change on marine evolution and organisms. Several programmes of IODP are going on here under the supervision of Prof Arun Deo Singh. The selection of Dr Verma is a great honour not only for herself but also for the Banaras Hindu University, as IODP is the most prestigious and premier international organisation in the world directed towards advanced ocean research and technologically the most advanced research vessel, he added. The participating scientists are selected from international groups of experts in marine sciences. /IANS