This award provides funds to support travel by U.S. academic scientists for participation in the ICES Annual Science Conference, its Working Groups and Workshops, Symposia, Theme Sessions, and Training Programs. Applications by young and established scientists will be considered to assure strong and diverse representation by the U.S. academic community in ICES activities.
Broader Impacts:
It is important for the United States to maintain a leadership role in marine science, in accord with the recent Presidential Executive Order on ocean stewardship, the Ocean Research Priorities Plan and the goals of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. The new structure of ICES and its five Steering Groups that are focused on science for ecosystem-based management provide opportunities for U.S. scientists to engage in collaborative international research. NSF funding will insure that U.S. academic science can exercise both leadership potential in ICES and the ability to recruit young scientists into ICES activities. Funds also will help to insure that the academic community is well represented, balancing the strong input of U.S. governmental science, primarily through NOAA.
The purpose of this project has been to administer travel support provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for US academic scientists to participate in the work and attend regular meetings of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the world’s oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES was established in 1902 and is headquartered in Copenhagen. Today it is the leading intergovernmental organization conducting and coordinating marine science in the North Atlantic region. Its member countries are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. ICES-affiliated countries include Australia, Chile, Greece, Peru, and South Africa. Over the course of the project, the Principal Investigators made a total of 77 travel awards for US academic scientists to participate in ICES Working Groups, Workshops, and Symposia and to attend the ICES Annual Science Conference (ASC). The awards were made to a mix of established and young scientists to assure strong and continuing representation by the US academic community in ICES science and advisory activities. Intellectual Merit ICES conducts science and provides management advice on the marine resources of the North Atlantic and neighboring seas. The products of ICES working groups, workshops, and symposia are widely accepted and applied to societal issues in marine resource management. The ICES organizational structure was overhauled in the last decade, giving emphasis to science that broadly supports ecosystem-based management, with a continued reliance on the historical twin pillars of scientific inquiry and scientific advice. This dual focus and mission have placed ICES at the forefront of marine science and have strengthened its guiding role in oceanography and fisheries. The special strengths of ICES of particular importance to US interests in science and resource management lie in three areas: (1) ecosystem-based management of marine resources, (2) cooperative research in the North Atlantic, and (3) academic/government collaboration. In addition, ICES has adopted four Strategic Initiatives that bear on US interests: climate science, biodiversity science, area-based science for management needs, and advanced stock assessment science. Broader Impacts It is important for the United States to maintain a global leadership role in marine science. The current structure of ICES and its five Steering Groups, which are focused on science for ecosystem-based management, provide opportunities for US scientists to engage and lead in collaborative, international research. Funding from the National Science Foundation has ensured that US academic science exercises both leadership potential in ICES and the ability to recruit young scientists into ICES activities. It also has helped to ensure that the academic community is well represented, balancing the strong input of US governmental science provided primarily through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
