Pacific Chapter

The Pacific Hub of AFRAN aims to actively promote and support cooperation in research and innovation between France and Pacific Island nations, in close partnership with Australia. It serves as a strategic platform for researchers, innovators, industry leaders, and policy makers from the Pacific region to engage with French and Australian expertise to address regional challenges and opportunities.

The Pacific Hub provides frameworks and tools to initiate, grow and sustain multilateral collaboration in science, technology, and innovation, with a focus on Pacific-led priorities such as climate resilience, digital transformation and Indigenous knowledge systems.

Through events, mentoring, strategic dialogues and expert networks, the Pacific Hub fosters transformative thinking and joint action with global impact grounded in Pacific contexts.

Pacific hub activities

The Institut Pasteur in New-Caledonia organised the SPOP Workshop in April 2025, which focused on the genomic surveillance of pathogens in the Pacific with a One Health approach. Held at the SPC Headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, this event marked a significant step towards greater collaboration among the PICTs. See the report.

News & Events in the Pacific

Stay informed about upcoming events, calls and opportunities in the Pacific

International conference - Language Education in Oceania

An international conference focused on “Teacher Education and Language Teaching in Oceania: Plurilingual Perspectives”, will take place on 28–29 January 2026 at the University of French Polynesia. This event is co-organised by the University of French Polynesia, the University of Melbourne and James Cook University. Learn more following this link: https://plurilinguaed.org/en/program/

Report HDR Masterclass - Teaching at University: Preparing for Future Higher-Education Teachers in the Pacific

From 30 September to 4 November 2025, the Graduate Research School at James Cook University invited students from the École Doctorale du Pacifique to participate in a masterclass based on the sharing of knowledge. Initiated by Florence Boulard, our new Pacific hub leader, this six-week program was delivered online via Zoom and brought together 25 students from JCU and 5 from the École Doctorale du Pacifique, representing the University of New Caledonia and the University of F

Save the date - Workshop on Australian International Section in Nouméa on the 16th and 17th of April 2026

Thanks to the financial support of the Australian-French Association for Research and Innovation, the INSPÉ of New Caledonia (the National Institute for Teaching and Education), in partnership with the Vice Rector/General Director of New Caledonia education, organises a Workshop dedicated to the Australian International Section (AIS), deployed in New Caledonia, Australia, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna and in French Polynesia. The organisers of this workshop are Stéphane Minviell

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Meet Pacific hub leaders

Reach out if you want to be part of this great team.

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Florence Boulard

Globe

Florence Boulard is an interdisciplinary scholar with extensive experience and a strong dedication to the Pacific Island communities. Her areas of expertise are in education and cross-cultural collaboration. Originally from New Caledonia but currently based in Australia (Townsville), she is an Associate Professor at James Cook University who brings extensive experience in education and community engagement across the Pacific region.

Fluent in both French and English, and deeply connected to Pacific and Francophone cultures, Dr Boulard brings a unique perspective to her role as the new leader of the AFRAN Pacific Hub. She is focused on building stronger research and innovation connections between the Pacific Islands, Australia and France. In this role, she is particularly committed to supporting early-career researchers, promoting fair and inclusive partnerships, and ensuring Pacific voices are at the centre of future initiatives.

Chris Chapman

Globe

Chris is a physical oceanographer and climate scientists within the CSIRO's Oceans and Atmosphere buisness unit. He completed his PhD in 2014, studying geophysical fluid dynamics in a joint program between the Australian National University, CSIRO and Laboratoire d’Etudes en Geophysique et Oceanographie Spatiales (LEGOS), Toulouse. After his PhD, he worked as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the Sorbonne Universities in Paris.

His work concerns the role of the ocean within the climate system, particularly how the East Australian Current and the tropical Indian and Pacfic oceans exert an influence over the climate of the Australian region. He is also particularly interested in the influence of ocean dynamics on marine ecosystems, extreme events such as marine heatwaves, and adapting modern data-science techniques to climate science.