The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program was created by NSF, NASA, and NOAA in 2006 to promote, plan, and coordinate collaborative, multidisciplinary research opportunities on marine biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem processes within the U.S. and with international partners. OCB leadership consists of a scientific steering committee (SSC); topical subcommittees on ocean acidification, ocean time-series, and ocean fertilization; and the OCB Project Office located at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The primary activities of the OCB Project Office include: 1) scientific and logistical support of the OCB SSC and its subcommittees; 2) organization of OCB workshops and activities; 3) scientific coordination within the OCB community and with other U.S. and international programs; 4) communication via OCB websites, newsletters, and email lists; and 5) development and dissemination of education and public outreach materials. Over the 6-year program life, OCB has hosted annual summer workshops, 7 scoping workshops, a short course, a synthesis workshop, and a PI meeting. Achieving a unique balance of stimulating scientific discussions and community planning, these activities have resulted in new collaborations, proposals and funded projects, manuscripts and special journal volumes, synergistic field opportunities, OCB community input to scientific planning initiatives and ocean observing campaigns, and scientific training opportunities.
With support from this renewal award, over the next three years the OCB Project Office will coordinate a range of activities, including the historically well-attended summer and scoping workshops, a short course for early career scientists, and topical working groups to address focused research questions. Given its experience in community building and planning ocean acidification activities, it will convene the next large, interdisciplinary meeting of funded U.S. ocean acidification investigators. It will also continue to facilitate timely scientific synthesis activities and strengthen partnerships with U.S. and international partner programs.
Broader Impacts: In the face of changes in atmospheric composition and associated climate change and evolving ocean chemistry, a more comprehensive understanding of ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystem processes is critically needed to improve our predictive capabilities and provide the framework for the development of sound adaptation strategies. OCB essentially is a broader impacts organization, playing a coordination role that ultimately benefits the entire scientific community, as well as policy makers and educators. Using an integrated, community-driven approach, OCB will continue to advance high-priority research and observational objectives related to ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystem processes. Relative to the investment, the momentum and collaborations developed in association with OCB activities over the past six years have yielded great benefits to the community, including scientific and planning reports, improved research coordination, and new research programs and opportunities. These activities cannot be replicated in a traditional scientific meeting format, which serves the primary purpose of showcasing new and exciting science from individual PIs. OCB goes a step beyond to convene the appropriate balance of expertise in a timely and strategic way to ensure positive outcomes for the community as a whole. The OCB Project Office also serves as a focal point for topical science-policy discussions related to the ocean carbon cycle (e.g., ocean acidification, carbon sequestration, iron fertilization). OCB Project Office staff members have routinely responded to requests for information from journalists, federal agency representatives, congressional staffers, and NGOs, and will continue these activities as opportunities arise.
